Sophie Mei Lan Slack in the UK, gave birth to her second daughter Arianna on the 2nd February of this year and two months later her baby was critically ill and hooked to a ventilator.
Sophie, mum of two, explained she was preparing for the worst.
“She stopped breathing and blood was coming out of her nose. Thank God, for the ambulance crew to arrive so fast and for the two guys that helped me with her.”
“She’d gone grey and lifeless in my arms. I think I cried so much I haven’t got any tears left.”
Sophie was having a normal day with her daughters when Sophie saw Arianna was bleeding from her mouth and nose and had stopped breathing.
Doctors had thought Sophie had accidentally suffocated Arianna with her sling, but tests revealed Arianna had flu and pneumonia. The infection developed into septicemia because Arianna’s body was too immature to fight the pneumonia.
Baby Arianna in hospital, Image Source
Arianna received a blood transfusion and was nursed back to good health.
“Thankfully, day by day, somehow the doctors and nurses managed to love my little Arianna back to life,” Sophie said.
Sophie admits that even though Arianna is home, she gets worried about her daughter. After her first checkup, Arianna was bleeding from her lip and she had the same rush of emotions when Arianna was admitted to hospital, but it was just a cut that caused the small bleed.
Sophie blamed herself for what happened to Arianna, until she received a letter from the doctors telling her it wasn’t her fault and that she shouldn’t blame herself for what happened to Arianna. The letter also gave Arianna a full bill of health and that she had recovered from her ordeal.
Sophie made a documentary with BBC Raw to thank NHS for saving her baby’s life.
In the documentary Sophie says, “We are so thankful to the NHS, because if it wasn’t for our healthcare system I’m pretty sure my baby would be dead.”
Sophie with Arianna, Image Source
“Those doctors and nurses that treated us were just the most amazing people. And not only that, the treatment she had cost tens of thousands of pounds, but we didn’t even have to worry about that. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Sophie is thankful she has a living daughter and can be back at home looking after her two daughters. She also admits as parents we can get stressed with work, but if you lose one of your babies, all perspective changes.
