A schoolgirl in Germany has left her family devastated after they found her dead when they went to wake her.

Emilia Seise, aged 14, was discovered by her mum 34-year-old teacher mum, Katharina Seise, when she went to wake her up at the family home in the Marmstrof district in Hamburg, Germany, on Thursday, 28th September.

The woman and her 38-year-old husband, not named, who is Emilia’s stepfather, had taken their three other children, aged 4, 9, and 10, to school before they headed back home to wake Emilia.

The schoolgirl had been excitedly looking forward to a work experience project that would have seen her helping out at a local pharmacy and was apparently looking forward to starting when the tragedy happened.

But when her distraught parents went to wake up Emelia, they were horrified to find that she was lifeless and medics later confirmed that she was dead.

The stepdad, a telecommunications company specialist, told German media his wife had found her first, saying: “She called to me in a strange way: ‘Come quickly. There’s something wrong with Emilia.’

“I immediately ran up. There she lay, her lips totally blue. We shook her and shouted ‘Emilia’ loudly over and over again. Her mother cried: ‘I have lost my child. She is dead.'”

Having seen that the child’s lips were blue, the parents immediately alerted emergency crews while Emilia’s stepdad began performing CPR on her.

He said: “I resuscitated Emilia as instructed, repeatedly giving her heart pressure massage. I just hoped the emergency doctor would come quickly.

“Suddenly, I heard a rattle. I thought I had her. But the rattling went away. Then, someone grabbed my shoulder.

“The emergency doctor said to me: ‘I’ll take over’. After 40 minutes, she still had no pulse.”

“They drove her to the Harburg [district] hospital and said that Emilia would definitely be transferred to the children’s hospital later.”

But while the parents went on their way to the hospital, a doctor called them saying that she had died.

The 38-year-old man said: “Our other children were picked up from daycare and school by neighbours. We had to break it to them gently.

“The crisis intervention team was at our side and gave the children teddy bears. Our four-year-old girl said we also need a teddy bear for Emilia.”

So the family bought helium-filled balloons and launched them into the sky in memory of Emilia, along with a teddy bear to accompany her in heaven.

Some messages attached to the balloons said: “Emilia, we miss you. We love you.”

The stepdad said: “She was perfectly healthy. We have no explanation. She enjoyed being on social media. Everyone at her school does this.

“Our fear was that she had taken part in one of the dangerous challenges. But there was nothing on her phone.

“It’s so painful not knowing why she died so young. She didn’t even have a cold.”

Katharina Seise launched a fundraiser to help cover the 14-year-old girl’s funeral costs.

She said: “We would be happy about any donation in order to be able to cover the costs incurred and to have time with the family.

“Now we know how precious it is and how quickly things can change.”

Hamburg public prosecutor’s spokesperson Liddy Oechtering said that they have launched an investigation into the child’s death.

She added: “We are waiting for the results of the autopsy at the Institute of Forensic Medicine.”