A seven-year-old who suffered a stroke while playing on a slide has had to have a third of her skull removed.
Charliee Sue Salisbury’s dad, Danny Salisbury, noticed an instant change in his daughter’s face on February 9 as she played at their local park.
As he waited for her at the bottom of the slide, the 43-year-old noticed that the left side of Charliee’s face had dropped before she collapsed when attempting to stand up, reports Manchester Evening News.
Charliee was rushed to Watford General Hospital, Hertfordshire, where a CT scan revealed a large blood clot in her brain had caused a stroke.
The schoolgirl was then transferred to Royal London Hospital where doctors attempted to remove the clot 12 times over five hours but were unsuccessful. On February 10, surgeons removed a third of Charliee’s skull due to dangerous swelling in her brain.
The procedure was successful and the family was sent to Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) where Charliee remained sedated until February 14. She can now mumble, but he movement is limited and she currently has no function on the left of her body.
Charliee will require further surgery to fit a metal plate to her skull and doctors predict she will nee a three-month recovery period in a rehabilitation centre.
Heartbroken dad Danny, a delivery driver from Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, said : “As soon as I saw Charliee coming down the slide, I knew something wasn’t right – she didn’t have the same glow in her beautiful face.
“We were blue-lighted to the hospital because we knew it was a race against time.
“When they confirmed it was a stoke, we were hoping the damage was minimal.
“The hours of surgery Charliee had were the longest of our lives but we’re thankful for the medics’ amazing efforts.
“Since she’s come around, every day, we are hoping for a miracle. She recognises her mum and I but she can’t say much – just mumbles.
“Charliee is a treasure – singing and dancing was her life. The night before her stroke, she was dancing around the kitchen way past her bedtime.
“I’d give anything to have her do the same right now.”
Danny and Hannah, 40, a nursery worker – who share five other children, aged 26, 23, 21, 20, 17 – were left “panicked” when their daughter’s left side “suddenly drooped” when going down the slide.
“I instantly knew something wasn’t right and when we got to the hospital, medics confirmed my worst fear – that she had suffered a stroke caused by a blood clot,” Danny said.
Despite requiring specialist treatment at GOSH, the family was sent to Royal London Hospital until a bed became available. Medics originally spent five hours trying to remove the blood clot but proved unsuccessful.
In the early hours of on February 10, surgeons removed a third of Charliee’s skull as her brain was “dangerously swollen” before finally able to go to GOSH. She then spent six days in ICU before being transferred to a high-dependency unit and then a shared ward where she has remained since and receives daily physiotherapy.
The clot on Charliee’s brain remains and the continued attempts to remove it have caused “severe damage” to the right side of her brain.
Danny said: “We haven’t left her side and are so thankful for the generous support Charliee has received.
“Medics still aren’t able to advise what caused the stroke and we don’t know what her future will look like. I miss seeing our little girl dance around, she has that kind of infectious joy.
“If I wasn’t there to notice the sudden change in her, I dread to think where we’d be.”
A close friend of the family has launched a GoFundMe page to help adapt their home and reduce the financial strain.
Danny said: “Hannah and I aren’t able to work at the moment and we’ll have to have the downstairs renovated for Charliee because she can’t get to her upstairs bedroom.
“We’ve been blown away by the generosity so far and would be grateful for any continued support.”