A Northern Ireland mum has spoken of her horror after she thought she was going to lose her baby girl.
Home interiors blogger Elaine Donaghy from Omagh said she and her husband started to notice their 10 month old daughter Mollie had developed a small cough.
Within days Mollie, who has Down Syndrome, was struggling to breathe and her parents called for an ambulance.
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She was then diagnosed with severe croup, a coughing condition which can develop among children and babies.
Speaking to Belfast Live, Elaine said it was a traumatic experience and one that happened very quickly.
“When we put her to bed on the Saturday night we could tell she was breathing quite loudly and it just didn’t sound right so we kept a close eye on her” Elaine said.
“The next morning she was in good enough form and we went out for breakfast like we do every Sunday.
“But when we got home we noticed that her stomach had completely retracted in, and I just remember from a previous time that a doctor said if you ever see that happening it means they are struggling to breathe.
“When she woke up then she really couldn’t get a breath and it gave us a shock, we called the ambulance straight away.
“We were so fortunate that they arrived so quick. Mollie was so upset and crying a lot, and then with the stress of trying to breathe it was making it worse.
“When she got to the hospital there was a team of eight people around her, it took them an hour before they managed to get things under control but for us it just felt like such a long time.
“She had a very severe level of croup and that’s why it took so long to get her breathing regulated.
“We stayed in the hospital with her for three days - it was just such a massive shock for us.
“While she had a wee bit of a cough there was nothing lingering, it was so scary how quick it all happened.”
The Co Tyrone mum added that at one point she thought she may have lost her daughter, and heaped praise on the staff at the South West Acute Hospital in Enniskillen who looked after her.
“At one point I distinctly remember the whole medical team standing back and thinking ‘is this it?’
“Thank god my husband was there at the time, I was probably making her worse because I was panicking but he did so well to try to keep her calm and comfortable.
“It has been five weeks now and it’s definitely taking its toll in terms of reliving the whole experience over again, afraid of it happening again.
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“We were in Enniskillen and I have to say we were so well looked after by all the staff, we couldn’t thank them enough.
“I wasn’t really aware of what croup was, but basically the airways start to close up and it all does happen very quickly
“Mollie just seemed to have a severe case, and there was no indication that it was related to the fact she has Down Syndrome.”
Thankfully Mollie is now on the road to recovery’ although it can take up to six weeks for her to recover fully.
Elaine is also an advocate for those with Down Syndrome, as well as having more than 30,000 followers on her home interiors Instagram account ‘Elaine’s Roves and Troves’ @elainesrovesntroves.
“We’re very lucky that Mollie hasn’t had some of the conditions that can be associated with Down Syndrome,” she added.
“Up until Mollie was born we really didn’t know much about it.
“We had a post-natal diagnosis and there was no doubt that it was a shock. But a lot of what I did see about Down Syndrome in the past seems to be negative.
“That’s not a representation of what we’re seeing now - you’re told a lot about what they might not be able to do and a lot of the time it hasn’t worked out the way we’ve been told.
“Every child no matter if you have a condition or not is unique and individual.
“While it’s not easy at times, she brings us so much joy because she’s our baby.”
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