A pair of new parents are desperately trying to get their daughter back home to the UK so that she can receive specialist treatment.
Matthew Melia from Bromborough and his wife DanDan are trying to raise £25,000 so they can bring their daughter home to the UK after she was born prematurely. The couple, who live in Shenzhen, China had expected their children to be born this month but due to complications during pregnancy, DanDan gave birth to daughters Mia and Scarlett via caesarean section on May 3.
Scarlett and Mia were transferred to a hospital in Guangzhou, nearly 100 miles from where Matthew and DanDan live. Once there, they received CT scans which showed major problems for both babies.
Sadly, Scarlett´s condition was so severe that Matthew, 35, and DanDan, 33, were faced with the decision to stop treatment altogether. Scarlett Rose passed away in Matthew’s arms on June 8; this was the first time she had been held by her dad. Mia underwent brain surgery at just 6 weeks old and is fighting the many complications of being preterm.
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Matthew's mum Sue told the ECHO: "We just want to bring Mia home and doctors think she will need a shunt put in which is an internal drain on the brain but we don't want that to be done in China. We have been out of our minds and want the three of them home so we can help to take care of them.
"The communication from the hospital to the parents has not been great and from the start, doctors have been telling them to stop treatment for the babies and give up on them. But Matthew and DanDan did not want to do that."
Mia is now eight weeks old and has still never been held by her parents. There is a strict no visitor policy in the neonatal units Mia has been in, even for parents. Matthew and DanDan have only seen Mia through a window and were only recently allowed in to take photos for her Passport. They receive photographs from a nurse twice a week.
Sue said: "They are not doing good and were desperate to have children and were delighted when they got the news. DanDan did have a few problems during the pregnancy but everything seemed okay.
"They have not been able to hold their children and the first time Matthew did Scarlett died in his arms. It was absolutely harrowing for the both of them."
As Mia is in hospital in a different city to where her parents were living, they have been renting a flat near the hospital. Unfortunately, due to lack of funds they have now had to return to Shenzhen. They are now returning twice a week to the hospital with the frozen breast milk. They can view the room where Mia is from a corridor.
Sue said: "For parents to have to go through everything they have is awful and they are distraught but are fighting now for Mia. They want to get her to Liverpool Women's or Alder Hey.
"Mia has had brain bleeds and will need better care that she can get here in the UK. We want to try and fly her out of China as soon as possible."
Together with Lia’s Wings, the family has raised £15,000 so far towards the costs of the air transfer. They are now reaching out to others to help secure the final £25,000 needed for the special medical flight home.
If you would like to donate to the page more information can be found here.
