Six-year-old girl has mental age of a toddler after 'infected chickenpox' leaves her brain damaged
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A six-year-old girl has been left with the mental age of a toddler after becoming brain damaged from infected chickenpox.
Lacey Ainley is now trying to learn to walk and talk again after the infected spot inside her nose caused her to have a seizure, the Hull Daily Mail reports.
She was rushed to hospital on December 21 and spent Christmas on life surpport in her hospital bed after needing emergency surgery when scans showed she had a "black shadow" at the back of her brain.
Her father, Mark, who had already lost one child who died just minutes after birth, discovered Lacey fitting in her bedroom.
(Image: HullDailyMail/ WS)
He was told by doctors that there was a chance Lacey would not make it out of surgery alive.
The dad-of-six said: “It was terrifying, especially after losing a kid in 2016.
“He was alive when he came out of the womb but his heart rate dropped to zero and they couldn’t bring him back.
“To see Lacey all wired up and drugged up was not nice.
“I had already lost one child and I don’t think I would have coped if I’d have lost another.
“I was so scared for her and it was horrible. We had everyone praying for her.
“When they took her into theatre there was a risk she wouldn’t wake up – but she’s a fighter like her father.”
(Image: HullDailyMail/ WS)
Lacey, who lives in Bridlington, East Yorkshire, survived the operation on her brain and came off the life support machine on Christmas Eve.
She finally woke up after days of being sedated on Christmas morning but was not allowed back home for another six weeks.
Doctors still do not know for definite what led to the youngster suffering brain damage.
However, they told Mr Ainley the infection could have been caused by a spread of chickenpox.
“We still don’t know what she had,” the 34-year-old said.
“We think it was an infection that came from inside her nose when she had chickenpox two months before and that went to the back of her brain.”
Although it has now been three months since Lacey was admitted to hospital, the youngster is still suffering from the effects of brain damage.
(Image: HullDailyMail/ WS)
The schoolgirl had delayed development but Mr Ainley thinks she now has the mental age of a two-year-old.
He said: “Lacey is six years old but it has knocked her right back to being two or three years old again.
“Her speech has changed and we’ve got to put nappies on her again because sometimes she has accidents.
“The school she was at can’t do anything to meet her needs so she is going to have to go to a special needs school.
“I never thought her having chickenpox would lead to this.
“Obviously we treated her right away but we really didn’t think it would get infected like it did.”
Determined to help Lacey after her Christmas was ruined, friends and charities have come together to support the Ainleys.
(Image: HullDailyMail/ WS)
Bridlington Round Table put on a surprise party for the youngster to give her “the Christmas she missed,” whereas Caroline McCracken set up a GoFundMe page to help the family financially.
Mr Ainley said the support shown by the community has been phenomenal and he praised them for coming to the family’s aid in their hour of need.
“It’s not money for me – it’s all for Lacey and when get well enough we want to use it to take her on holiday to somewhere like Butlins.
“We just want to get her away for a bit. She has been through a hell of a lot so she deserves that.
“It’s so great to have all this support. We can’t thank people enough.”
You can donate to the fundraising page set up for Lacey here .