THE mother of a schoolgirl who was discovered to have a potentially fatal rare brain condition after a freak school trip accident at an ice rink has told of her gratitude to the medical staff who saved her life.
Anne-Marie Smith, the mother of 13-year-old Aislin, had her baptised and the last rites administered as she was so worried her condition would be fatal.
She had fallen onto the ice in front of classmates as she skated at the Time Capsule in Coatbridge during a school trip on May 20. Leisure centre staff gave the young girl treatment at the scene before paramedics arrived.
Aislin was rushed to Monklands Hospital and put on life support and later moved to Royal Hospital for Sick Children at Yorkhill in Glasgow for 24-hour rehabilitation and care.
It was discovered she had been struck down by autoimmune encephalitis, a condition where the immune system mistakenly attacks the brain without an existing viral infection. Often, the cause of the problem with the immune system is unknown.
It is not totally clear whether the illness was the cause of the fall, or whether it was discovered as a result of it.
Encephalitis, which in all its forms features a swelling of the brain, is rare and affects approximately 4,000 people in the UK each year.
Now Mrs Smith has told friends that Aislin is fighting back, and while she has limited speech and cannot eat and drink independently, she is starting to recognise her and has blown her a kiss.
And the family want to raise £2,000 for a fighting fund to support the teenager after her diagnosis as she will potentially need medium to long-term care.
Mrs Smith, a former mental health worker from Glasgow's south side, said: "I can't thank the staff at Monklands Hospital and Yorkhill enough for saving her life. Staff have stayed on when they were meant to finish their shift.
"It is amazing, because we thought she was going to die. Communication comes and goes and the words she is saying are like random. She was in the shower the other day and she said, 'Oh my god'.
"I am using my humour, my faith and my friends to keep me going. There's been a lot of humour."
A few weeks before the accident, Aislin was said to have been unwell, had been sick and dizzy and had had one fainting episode which resulted in her being taken to hospital. She was treated for dehydration, underwent blood tests, and was sent home.
Within a week she was still complaining of sickness, double vision, shakes and again visited her GP where she underwent further blood tests before the accident at the Time Capsule.
In an appeal for help, Kelly Smith, Aislin's sister said: "Some people recover well after having encephalitis, others have permanent brain damage and complications . The truth is that for Aislin this is simply an unknown.
"The best case scenario is that she leaves hospital as close to the person she was before this virus struck, the worst that she has permanent brain damage requiring her to have 1:1 care. Whichever way, this is a life changing event for Aislin and her family."
Kelly Smith said that while Aislin had received high dependency care in hospital she has started to show small signs of recovery including opening her eyes and moving her arms.
However Aislin was needing constant monitoring and care.
"If you research a little on the diagnosis it tells you that it can be days, weeks or months before an auto immune disease like this is discovered. So we all think she has had it and it caused the fall seizure then resulting in being put on life support," said Kelly.
The family have already had 83 pledges to their fund-raising appeal through https://crowdfunding.justgiving.com/kelly-smith-1
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