MYGIRL’S FIGHTFORLIFE
Shona’s little girl is defying the odds
Shona Sheehy, 28, St Helens Park, NSW
She’s probably teething,’ my ancé Mathew, 27, said holding our sixmonth-old daughter, Elora.
Usually a happy bub, that day she was a bit irritated.
She had a mild fever and refused her feed, but snuggled into my chest and drifted off.
When she woke up a few hours later though, she started screaming.
Worried, I gave her Panadol and it seemed to soothe her. But by the next morning, she was crying and unsettled again.
That’s when I noticed something frightening.
Her right eye was turned inwards.
I’ve never seen that before, I thought.
Panicked, we rushed Elora to the hospital. While we were being admitted, she went limp in my arms and began to have a seizure.
‘Help!’ I screamed as medics surrounded us.
Our bub continued to seize for several minutes at a time, for an agonising eight hours.
‘What’s happening?’ Mathew said, as we both held hands.
He was inconsolable.
The results of a CT scan said Elora’s brain was swelling and had abnormalities, so we were transferred to Sydney Children’s Hospital.
Waiting for news was horrendous.
‘Elora has Acute Necrotizing Encephalopathy,’ the doctor nally told us.
He explained it was a rare brain disease that is generally caused by a virus or infection that makes the body attack the spinal cord and brain.
And it looked like our girl couldn’t be helped.
‘You should say your goodbye,’ he added.
We were told we might only have 48 hours.
‘I’m her mother, I will not give up on her,’ I said.
I lay down by her bedside and sang Johnny Cash’s ‘You Are My Sunshine’.
In the next few days, a miracle happened as Elora began responding to the medicines and the seizures came under control.
She opened her eyes and could breathe on her own. Slowly, she rolled over and tried to lift her head.
She was alive but doctors said she had extensive brain damage, due to her brain being starved of oxygen, and weren’t sure what lay ahead.
After eight weeks, we nally brought Elora home. She’d gone back to being like a newborn and had to re-learn everything. I quit my work as a teacher to look after her.
When Elora laughed again for the rst time, at Mathew playing hide and seek with her one day, the sound was amazing.
And after a few months of physio and occupational therapy, she could crawl, roll and speak a little.
She loved tapping her feet to ‘You Are My Sunshine’.
Elora seemed to be progressing well, but just before her rst birthday in June 2019, she caught in uenza A.
In hospital, her brain began to attack itself, causing swelling. Again, she lost what she had learned.
‘She has de ed the odds once, she can do it again,’ Mathew said.
Like a true ghter, in a few months she began crawling, laughing, and even walking using a frame.
Our girl has speech therapy, and may need help with her vision in future. She can hold her body weight and has started using her legs.
We are so proud of her and she inspires us every day.
• Brain injury can occur when the brain is starved of oxygen.
• The effects can range
from mild to severe. • Symptoms can include dizziness and difficulty concentrating, plus speech, vision and memory problems.