A five-year-old girl made her own way to school wearing a princess dress and wellies to deliver a chilling 10-word message.
Brave Poppy Davies did the only thing she could think of to save her mum’s life after spending the night by her unconscious mum’s side. Seeking help, Poppy walked to school from her Pontllanfraith, South Wales home to ask her teacher for help.
She told teachers at Pontllanfraith Primary School: “Mummy’s on the floor and I can’t wake her up.”
Her mother, 35-year-old Leisha Davies, collapsed the night before rendering her unconscious and battling for her life after going into septic shock. In the days leading up to January 18, Leisha had undergone surgery for a twisted bowel.
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Since returning to work, she had been feeling unwell, with swelling in her legs and face.
(Image: WALES NEWS SERVICE)
That fateful night, her husband Ryan was working a night shift, leaving only Leisha and Poppy at home.
The last thing Leisha, a mental health worker, remembered was watching Poppy dance around in her princess dress before she lost consciousness. Recalling the incident, Leisha said: “My daughter spent the whole night with me, she didn’t know what to do. On the morning of the 19th, she was in her princess dress, put on her wellies and her little crown.
“She unlocked my front door and walked to the school gate right by my house. She went into the classroom and told the teacher ‘Mummy’s on the floor and I can’t wake her up'”, reports Wales Online.
Two of Poppy’s teachers found Leisha on the floor at home, put her in the recovery position and called for an ambulance. As paramedics battled to save her life, Poppy was dressed in her school uniform and taken to school.
(Image: WALES NEWS SERVICE)
An air ambulance landed at the school, but Leisha needed equipment to keep her alive that wouldn’t fit in the aircraft.
She was rushed to Grange University Hospital in Cwmbran where it was discovered she was in septic shock and only had 15% lung function. After suffering two cardiac arrests, Leisha was placed in an induced coma.
Her consultant, David Hepburn, said she needed extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) treatment and she was transferred to Bristol Royal Infirmary.
Leisha has no recollection of this time but recalls having vivid and frightening dreams. She explained: “I was picking up things from my mother and my husband talking to me which was creating an alternative reality in my mind. When I woke up (three weeks later) I couldn’t move my body and I’d had a tracheostomy so I couldn’t speak.
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My mother was stroking my hair and asked ‘Are you alright? ‘ I nodded and they knew then I was back. They didn’t know for three weeks whether I was brain damaged.”
Initially, it was thought that Leisha would need both her legs amputated around the knee, but now it seems likely that only half of each foot will be removed due to necrosis.