Almost three years after their toddler’s “preventable” death in hospital, her family wants to light a fire of change.

Her mother Annah White spoke outside the NSW Coroners Court in Sydney’s west today as an inquest into her daughter’s tragic death from sepsis resumed.

“We feel that if we don’t push for answers and for change, who will?” she said.

“It is very evident to us that our daughter Pippa should not have died.”

The inquest, which began in June 2024, had already heard of multiple failures within the state’s healthcare system including understaffing, a lack of training, missed opportunities for escalation and a dismissal of her own concerns as a parent, Ms White said.

Ms White took Pippa to hospital in Cowra on June 12, around three days after she began experiencing symptoms including a high temperature, vomiting and diarrhoea.

Based on descriptions provided by a doctor in Cowra, an experienced pediatrician in the larger Orange hospital believed Pippa was “getting better from whatever illness she had”.

But Ms White claimed in her evidence that at the time her daughter was “lethargic” and vomiting back up any fluids given to her.

Once transferred to Orange Base Hospital, tests revealed the toddler had pneumonia with a complete white-out of her left lung.

But the pediatrician was not immediately notified and did not assess Pippa until after dawn, the inquest has been told.

She died about 12.30pm on June 13 after suffering two cardiac arrests.

Ms White asked all those within the packed courtroom on Monday to consider Pippa as someone in their life they loved dearly.

“Now, imagine this tragic death occurred to your Pippa,” she said.

“How does that make you feel? Hold onto that feeling.”

“I hope hearing about Pippa’s last moments during this inquest lights a fire deep inside you to fight for change – because your Pippas are still alive.”

Ms White described her daughter as perfect in every way, a girl who was kind, smart and thoughtful with a bright future ahead of her.

Her future and any hopes and dreams were ripped away by a flawed healthcare system, she told the court.

Ms White spoke alongside two large portraits of the two-year-old.

One of these showed her wearing a dress of her favourite colour – yellow – running through a field of yellow flowers surrounded by butterflies.

Pippa’s grandmother Marianne Stonestreet said she felt “broken and angry” and blamed the healthcare system for failing a critically unwell child.

“Annah tried – she tried to get help, she knew something was wrong,” Ms Stonestreet told the court.

“No one listened to her, no one took her seriously and because of that Pippa died.”

Pippa’s father Brock spoke of how he first turned to drinking to numb the pain and then took up playing rugby league because he “needed to be hurt”.

“I walk around in a shell of my former self, broken,” he said.

The courtroom was packed with Pippa’s family and friends who travelled to Sydney for the inquest.

Outside court, Ms White described them as “Pip’s army”.

“We are all equally broken, shattered,” she said.

“A life sentence – one without the chance of parole – that’s what life is like for grieving families.”