Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Fainting fits were really strokes now my child faces a life of struggle
Mum reveals ordeal after Eva, 10, hit by aneurysm
know what she would be like after. The ‘fainting episodes’ had in fact been mini strokes and there were that many bleeds ‘it was like layers in an onion’ were the words he used.” The family waited nervously for six hours until Eva was out of theatre and she was sent straight to the intensive care unit. The surgery had been a success but had left Eva a very different little girl to the one who had gone into hospital. Eimhear said: “I went in with a child who was completely physically fine but it changed so much and it felt like I went home with a completely different child.
DISCHARGED
“She was discharged on December 8 and I felt I had no help whatsoever. She had no appetite and was barely sleeping.
“She’s been left with learning difficulties, no short-term memory, sensory issues, weakness in her right side and visual impairment to name a few things.
“The list is endless. I don’t know what I can do to help her.” The family were back in hospital for an assessment last week and Eva is doing a phased return to her final year at Holy Child Primary School.
For now doctors have told her family it will take time to recover and have given a three-year time frame.
Eimhear said: “After that time we will see what issues she has long term. It was and is a miracle she’s here, she spent a time in ICU and she surprised doctors everyday.”
Eimhear is raising funds for The Stroke Association and is taking part in its Resolution Run – a 5k or 10k event at Queens Sport Upper Malone on Sunday, February 25, at 11am.