She’s home at last – mum’s little miracle
Published: June 24, 2005
Proud mum Gail Donnachie feared daughter Kayleigh Delaney could die after contracting meningitis — but is thrilled she’s finally been discharged from hospital four months after her birth.
Gail, of Princes Street, Greenock, said: “I feel fantastic she’s here. It’s the best feeling in the world.”
“We are both lucky to be alive. I got an infection and had to have an emergency Ceasarean. If we hadn’t got to hospital in time we could have died.”
Gail was rushed into hospital in Nottingham in February while she was visiting her mother. Her partner Aiden Delaney also works in the English east midlands town.
Kayleigh was 14 weeks premature when she was born and Gail was told she had only a 50-60 per cent chance of surviving.
After recovering enough to be discharged, Gail stayed in a hotel attached to the hospital for 11 weeks so she could spend as much time as possible with her baby daughter.
She said: “It was heartbreaking looking at her through an incubator.”
The mum-of-three was delighted when Kayleigh proved herself a fighter and started to improve. But then tragedy struck and she contracted E. coli meningitis.
Gail recalled: “The doctors said it could have been fatal. There were a few times I thought she was going to die. She had 10 infections and 11 blood transfusions.”
When she was stronger, Gail came home and doctors allowed Kayleigh to be flown by air ambulance to the Royal Alexandra in Paisley, where she spent another few weeks before getting home on Friday.
Gail wants to thank staff at the hospital’s special care baby unit for looking after Kayleigh.
“They were absolutely fantastic. But the nurse who collected Kayleigh from Nottingham City Hospital was shocked when she saw all the high-tech equipment compared with the facilities at the RAH.
“They had an incubator that the nurses hadn’t even seen in Paisley.”
She added: “It’s more high-tech; there’s a parents room and a hotel — even the decor is a lot better.
“The RAH is quite a depressing place. It’s like a hospital in Russia — it’s ridiculous. It was a shock to the system.”
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