MM Inspiration
When Newtownards mum, Jane Smith’s six-year-old daughter, Ruby, took the chickenpox, she could scarcely have envisaged the nightmare scenario that was to follow...
A truly
inspirational tale
When Ruby Smith first contracted chickenpox, mum Jane – like many mums - thought it was better for her daughter to have it earlier rather than later in life. But then, things took a different turn.
‘Ruby had had the chickenpox in September’, Jane told MM, ‘and, as with most kids, she pretty much took it in her stride.’
‘On Thursday 1 December, however, she wakened up with a headache, which quickly settled down, and she went off to school as normal. On her way back from assembly, however, she experienced what she described as her ‘legs giving way’ and she then vomited.
'Of all times, I happened to be on a long overdue weekend away with friends in Lisbon, and so her dad and grandparents were looking after her, so it was they who took her to the GP, who said that it was most likely a vomiting illness. The following morning, however, it was clear that there was something seriously wrong. She seemed to be having difficulty going down the stairs and she then had a few falls. Her dad had also noticed that she seemed unable to move her right arm and leg and it was obvious that she’d stopped talking.
'He and her grandparents immediately took her to hospital, where an MRI showed she had areas of swelling in the left side of her brain. By that time I had managed to get home and joined them at the hospital where we were told, after repeat MRIs and a lumber puncture, that the findings were in keeping with an ischaemic stroke. Ruby had lost the ability to swallow so had an NG tube put in place. She was immediately put on to aspirin and was given an intensive rehabilitation programme including speech and language therapy, physiotherapy and occupational therapy.
‘To say that her dad, Iain, and I were shocked is a complete understatement. We were actually shocked to the point where we
50 Modernmum
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84
