Doctors Don’t Always Have The Final Say As Girl Pronounced Medically Dead For 7 Minutes Survives
The parents of 14 months old Alexia who was rushed to the hospital after suffering a heart attack were reduced to tears when doctors told them to say their goodbyes, pronouncing her medically dead for 7 minutes.
The Daily News UK reports that;
She had been unable to keep down her food and drink and her illness took a dramatic turn for the worse when she suffered a heart attack. Her parents Melissa Kimpton, 25, and Joseph Crane, 24, called an Ambulance and rushed her to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool. Doctors battled to save the toddler’s life but her devastated parents were reduced to tears after being told to say their goodbyes.
Full-time mother Ms Kimpton said: “Doctors actually told us to say goodbye to her because her condition was so critical. I’ve never been so frightened in all my life. I just kept asking myself why it was Alexia and not me. To see her lying in a hospital bed with tubes everywhere and being kept alive by a ventilator is something a mother should never have to do.”
Hours after Alexia arrived at Alder Hey she was taken to the specialist children’s unit and diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy. The disease leaves the heart unable to pump blood around the body efficiently and symptoms include shortness of breath, swelling of the ankles and abdomen and excessive tiredness. She was given several blood transfusions, kidney dialysis and an MRI scan during her time at the hospital.
The critically ill little girl was put on a ventilator as her parents, who also have an eight-year-old son Cameron, desperately waited for news. Against expectations, Alexia’s condition slowly improved she was allowed to come off the ventilator on Christmas Day – nine days after being admitted to hospital.
Ms Kimpton described the agonising wait as the “worst experience imaginable, as a mother, it was by far the worst experience imaginable to be told your daughter could die. She was trembling when she woke up but it was a huge relief that she was responding to the treatment. It certainly felt like someone was smiling down on us because we really did fear the worst after being told to say goodbye.”
Three months on from the harrowing experience, Alexia continues to have medication administered via a syringe three times a day while having regular hospital check-ups.
The mother-of-two added: “The whole thing was a terrifying experience for the whole family. Joseph and I stayed at her bedside the whole time while Cameron stayed with my mum and it feels like a miracle that she’s pulled through. I’m so grateful for what the hospital staff did and I’ve started a Just Giving page to raise money for Blackpool Victoria Hospital to show them how much we appreciate what they did.”
Source: Daily Mail UK