We are devastated. Christie was very loyal and very loving'
A schoolgirl has died just 24 hours after complaining of a sore throat and headache.
Christie Holt, 14, went to see her GP with flu-like symptoms, but shortly after being sent home she developed a rash and her family dialled 999 for an ambulance.
Miss Holt was admitted at 7.15am and died 14 hours later of septic shock, the deadly blood poisoning condition.
Christie Holt, 14, died of septic shock 24 hours after complaining of a sore throat and headache
Her mother Leila, 37, a company secretary, said from the family home in Trefriw, Conwy, North Wales: 'It's shocked everybody. We are devastated.
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'Christie was very loyal and very loving. She had the makings of a fine young woman.
We have had flowers from people as far away as Australia and a lot of brave people have come to the door. We really appreciate it.'
Miss Holt's landscape gardener stepfather Shaun Hamilton-Hunter said: 'It's sent a shockwave through the area. She was hugely popular at school.
'She was cheeky, lovely, beautiful, shy and a teaser. She was also community minded and was rattling her placard when they took away the local playground.'
Miss Holt fell ill at the family home and was taken by ambulance to the nearby Glan Clwyd Hospital.
She was transferred to Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool where she later died with her family at her bedside.
Mr Hamilton-Hunter said: 'Christie had been poorly and her immune system was down.
'But we don't know if she had previously had a virus, a bacterial infection or a combination because the symptoms are all very similar.
'There were no signs of meningitis. She has gone straight to septicaemia.
She died of septicaemic shock.
'People need to know it's extremely serious but also extremely rare.'
Miss Holt was a pupil at Dyffryn Conwy School in Llanrwst, was a patrol leader with Rhos on Sea Scouts and had just completed her Gold Award.
She leaves her brother Hugo, aged eight months.
Doctors battled to save Christie, 14, at Alder Hey hospital in Liverpool. She died with her family by her bedside
Relatives added that Christie was very close to her father Peter Holt and stepmother Deborah who are devastated by her sudden death.
Her headteacher Paul Matthews-Jones said: 'Christie was an extremely popular and well liked pupil, not only with her peers but also by all her teachers.
'She enjoyed school and was an excellent pupil with all her life in front of her.
'To lose Christie is a tragedy for all who knew her. She will be sorely missed at school and like everybody in the community we are devastated, saddened and shocked by her death.
'When the school re-opens in January, together we will remember and pay tribute to Christie, where all pupils will have an opportunity to remember her in their own special way.'
A spokeswoman for Public Health Wales said: 'We are aware of a death from septicaemia in that area.
'There is a small public health risk. The family will be offered antibiotics.
'There is no action the school, staff or parents need to take.'
Christie's family and friends all wore bright clothes for her funeral at Colwyn Bay Crematorium today.
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