The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Tragic death of Cally Simpson
Young Angus girl “grew her angel wings all too soon” as she battled to recover from pool accident four years ago
An Angus girl who suffered lifechanging injuries after being dragged unconscious from a Spanish swimming pool four years ago has died.
Tributes have poured in for youngster Cally Simpson, who is understood to have passed away at the weekend.
A crowdfunding page was set up by family to help Cally’s mother, Kate Miller, pay for her daughter’s funeral which had raised more than half its £2,500 target within hours.
Cally was on her first summer trip abroad when a fellow holidaymaker pulled the four-year-old from the pool in the popular resort of Salou in June 2014.
She was left in a coma and spent a year in hospital but she defied doctors, who feared she may not survive, by going on to attend nursery and school.
Kate has been described as a “mumin-a-million” as she tries to come to terms with the tragic loss of her child, who was left in a wheelchair and unable to speak after family fun turned to horror in June four years ago.
Cally had been with family at a hotel in Salou, on her first holiday abroad, when she was rescued unconscious from the bottom of a pool at the Villamarina Hotel by a fellow holidaymaker.
She was given CPR by a British doctor staying at the hotel but remained in a coma and was kept for weeks in Spanish hospitals before being flown back to Scotland for treatment in Edinburgh and then in Ninewells Hospital, Dundee.
Despite mum, Kate, and dad, Steven Simpson, initially being told their child may not survive, Cally defied the odds and went to nursery, before going on to attend the former Kingspark school in Dundee.
Her progress was regularly updated by Kate on a Cally Simpson Facebook page, previously describing her daughter as a “cheeky chops” who was “loving school”.
Cally underwent multiple operations and treatments following the accident and was fitted with a pump in her stomach which released medication into her spine to help her move her limbs.
She was fed through a tube in her intestines and underwent a gruelling physiotherapy regime, which led to her feet returning to their normal position despite doctors indicating they would remain at a rigid angle.
Ms Miller’s cousin, Rachel Cameron, set up a Cally’s Send Off gofundme page which passed the halfway mark of its £2,500 in less than a day.
“I am trying to raise some money to help my cousin financially get through her daughter’s funeral,” she said.
“Cally grew her angel wings all too soon.
“It’s a very difficult time for Kate at the moment and we would like to relieve some pressure from herself.
“She has been a single mum and carer for Cally for the past four-and-a-half years.
“A woman only others could aspire to be. A mum in a million.”
I am trying to raise some money, to help my cousin financially get through her daughter’s funeral