A TRAUMATISED mum has told of her holiday from hell after her baby girl nearly died from meningitis during a dream trip to Thailand.
Elisha Robinson, 24, touched down in sunny Phuket in October last year, taking her then seven-month-old tot on her first overseas trip.
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The stay-at-home mum and her plasterer partner Jai, 25, were ready to spend the next month relaxing in Thailand with close family and friends when Lilliana came down with a slight fever.
They took the tot to a local hospital to get checked out but just four hours after being discharged with paracetamol Lilliana suddenly lost consciousness and turned blue.
The horrified parents rushed their baby girl back the hospital, where she was diagnosed with meningococcal disease – a life-threatening combination of bacterial meningitis and sepsis.
MENINGITIS SHOCK
Her tiny legs became ravaged by an ominous purple rash that broke out into open wounds as her skin turned gangrenous.
Once stable, little Liliana was airlifted from Phuket to the capital Bangkok.
There, heroic surgeons painstakingly removed the dead and dying tissue from her legs in the hope that it would save her from needing amputations.
Almost half a year later, Lilliana has undergone further skin graft surgeries, steroid injections and extensive physiotherapy to restore function to her legs.
She amazingly celebrated her first birthday this month – a milestone Elisha said she feared she might never get to see.
I couldn’t believe it. She was well and happy in the morning and dying by lunchtime
Elisha Robinson
Elisha said: “We had been so excited for this holiday. Lilliana was surrounded by love, and we were so happy. It was everything you’d want from a holiday.
“Her lips and fingernails started going blue, and she just went limp and lost consciousness.
“The doctors told us she had meningococcal and that she was going to die.
“I couldn’t believe it. She was well and happy in the morning and dying by lunchtime.”
After a gruelling two weeks in intensive care, Lilliana and her family, from the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia, were flown back home in November 2018 in order to begin the long road to recovery.
What is Meningococcal Disease?
Meningococcal disease is an acute bacterial infection that causes blood poisoning or inflammation of the lining of the brain
Infection generally requires close and prolonged contact with a person carrying the bacteria
Director of Meningococcal Australia, Eliza Ault-Connell, said: “The period between onset of first symptoms to being critically ill can be a matter of hours. You can seem healthy at breakfast and be dead by dinner.
“The symptoms may include sudden onset of fever, headache, neck stiffness, joint pain, a rash of red-purple spots or bruises, dislike of bright lights, nausea and vomiting.
“Not all symptoms may be present at once, and young children may have fewer specific symptoms, including irritability, high-pitched crying and refusal to eat.”
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Thankfully, the distraught parents had all their medical bills and travel expenses covered by Zoom Travel Insurance, who paid over $113,000AUD (£60,650) in claims for the family.
Elisa said: “There is no doubt that Lilliana has got a long road ahead of her. But I’m just so proud of her.
“At the end of the day, she is lucky to still have her leg and her life.
“Celebrating her first birthday felt like a dream. It wasn’t long ago that this was a birthday we never thought we’d see.”
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