Girl who ‘died’ is f ighting back af ter pioneering surgery
WHEN ten-year-old Emma Ross collapsed and suffered a cardiac arrest in her school playground, her parents thought she had died.
But five months later, she has woken from her coma and was yesterday recovering after a pioneering operation.
She is the first child to have a £27,000 Baclofen pump placed in her body at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children at Yorkhill, Glasgow, after a three-hour operation on Thursday morning.
It will allow drugs to be injected directly into her spine and will hopefully reduce the pain and involuntary muscle spasms that she has endured.
Emma was placed under observation in the high- dependency unit following the surgery but she is expected to move back to the ward today.
Her mum, Robyn Stewart, 32, said: ‘Emma had her op and it all went well, so we are so relieved.
‘We are now hoping that it will help relax her muscles so she will be able to move around because right now her muscles are so tight and stiff. She is awake and aware of people. She can sometimes move her hands and feet.
‘If a song comes on that she likes, she will move her feet around.
‘All I want is for her to talk and tell me how she feels. I was told so many times she was not going to make it, but she has made so much progress. She is my wee miracle.’
Emma, from Dumfries, stopped breathing for 44 minutes and turned blue when her father Lindsay, 36, came to collect her from Heathhall Primary in February. Doctors battled to save her life at Dumfries Infirmary before she was rushed to Yorkhill and placed in a medically induced coma.
Her mum has spoken of her fear at seeing her little girl lying ‘dead’ in the playground.
She said: ‘When I arrived I saw Emma lying dead and motionless. She was blue and she was not breathing. Her teacher, Mrs Black, was standing over her giving CPR. Since then it has been an absolute rollercoaster, we’ve had good days and bad days. She can now make noises, grunts and groans.
‘There was a high risk with the operation – she could possibly have had another cardiac arrest.
‘I know she is going to pull through. She had a chance to leave me and she didn’t. Three times I was told she was not going to make it, but she is still fighting.’
Emma, who is in primary five, has now been diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, the same disease of the heart muscle that almost killed footballer Fabrice Muamba in 2012.
Her parents have been able to take Emma out of hospital in her wheelchair and her mum said she is always smiling. Robyn and Lindsay who have another daughter, 18 monthold Evie, said they have been ‘overwhelmed’ by the support and kindness of people.
‘Folk have been brilliant. We have been absolutely overwhelmed with all the support,’ said Robyn.
They will be doing a 10k run on August 31 along with Emma’s friends and teachers to raise money for Ronald McDonald House, a charity which provides free accommodation for 500 families each year whose children are critically ill patients in Yorkhill.
To donate, visit: https://www.justgiving.com/Robyn-Stewart/