NHS ‘miracles’ for Alcester tot, Emily

AGAINST the odds, a three-year-old girl from Alcester is battling her way back from a life-threatening illness which shattered her family when it struck without warning two weeks ago.

Emily Jennings was at nursery when her mum, Kayla, 29, received a call that her daughter wasn’t feeling well and needed to go home.

“It was a Wednesday and Emily wasn’t herself that day,” said Kayla. “We tease her she’s a feral child, a bit crazy and all over the place but not that day. We called 111 out-of-hours and went to the doctor’s the next day. They said she’d probably be better soon and to take paracetamol but by the following Monday I was still concerned.”

Emily was taken to Warwick Hospital on Monday, 16th September with a fever and a bad cough. It later transpired she had a bacterial infection and pneumonia, but in the meantime she got worse and on the Wednesday doctors decided to intubate Emily as she wasn’t getting enough oxygen on her own.

“During the intubation process she went into cardiac arrest but quickly stabilised.”

Emily was transferred to Royal Stoke University Hospital where an X-ray showed there was fluid on her lungs from pneumonia. She had to have a drain in her chest to try to remove all the fluid – two litres of fluid were drained in the first 24 hours.

Further X-rays revealed Emily had air in her chest where it wasn’t supposed to be, this had collapsed both lungs and displaced her heart. More drains were required – she ended up having four drains in her chest all at once.

Eventually, Emily was taken to Birmingham Children’s Hospital in a critical but stable condition for surgery where dead lung tissue was removed during a four-hour operation. She will remain there until she is well enough to go home.

While Emily recovers, Kayla has been staying at Ronald McDonald House in Birmingham near the hospital but told the Herald she hasn’t slept for two days and is exhausted.

Kayla, who is owner and senior stylist of Serenity Hair and Beauty in Alcester, said: “We asked how this happened to Emily and were told it was extremely bad luck that it did.

“I have to say the NHS nurses have been absolutely amazing.”

Phil, who is Emily’s dad, and Kayla are both South African and have been in the UK since May 2019. They are waiting for their indefinite leave to remain certifications to be confirmed, for which they had to pay £12,000. Unfortunately, they are not entitled to financial assistance through benefits.

In addition Phil was made redundant from his regional sales manager position two days before his daughter fell ill.

He is currently making hospital visits and looking after Emily’s big sister, Lexi, aged seven, with the help of friends. As Phil’s car has broken down it makes travel to Birmingham difficult.

One friend, Ceri-Ann Selby Edge, has set up a fundraising page to help the family through this difficult and stressful time.

The target is £10,000 and so far £5,000 has been achieved.

“This family are under extreme amounts of stress and money should be the least of their worries at a time like this, they only have one car and the clutch broke a few days ago and they now have no transport,” Ceri says on the fundraising page.

“Please donate whatever you can to this poor family who just need a break.”

Kayla told the Herald: “My husband and I aren’t working at the moment and my mum has just flown here from South Africa so we are going to be using the money for our bills and supporting my mother while she is here.

“Emily is going to need a lot of taking care of over the next few months so I won’t be working.”

There was some concern the family could be charged for Emily’s NHS treatment. However, they are hopeful that can be sorted as Emily was born in the UK and has never left the country.

“We have spoken to the overseas team at Birmingham Children’s Hospital but we have not heard anything more since Monday,” Kayla added.

Meanwhile with every passing hour Emily and the nurses continue to perform wonders as her tiny frame gets a bit stronger each day after such a major trauma.

“The NHS nurses have been absolutely amazing and we think Emily will be in hospital for another two weeks or so but she’s very much awake and had a breathing tube removed on Wednesday (yesterday) but there’s still a long way to go,” Kayla said.

To donate, visit: www.gofundme.com/f/baby-emilys-family