A 13-year-old girl from Larkhall has been left fighting for her life on a ventilator in Spain after her lungs filled with blood while on a family holiday.
Charlotte Meek was enjoying a break in Alicante with mum Wendy, 52, and dad Stephen, 54, for the famous Kings’ Day parade on January 5. However, the next day Charlotte became unwell and was rushed to hospital, where she remains in ICU.
The family have been told it could be weeks before discussions about transferring her home can even begin, reports the Daily Record.
Charlotte has a genetic condition called SWAN (Syndrome with no name), which is so rare medics are unable to provide a diagnosis and causes underlying health issues.
Charlotte in Alicante before taking ill.
Tragically, the family lost Charlotte’s big brother Justin in similar circumstances while on a family holiday to Florida in 2014. Her dad said it was like a “mirror image” of their current situation.
Speaking to the record, Stephen recalled the terrifying incident. He said: “We had three days enjoying a nice wee break, then in the early hours of Monday morning, Charlotte began to have coughing fits quite consistently then began coughing up blood which is never good.
“By 5.30am she was being violently sick with a lot of blood. Even though Charlotte has underlying health conditions, she had been well recently so we were worried.
“We phoned an ambulance on Monday morning and she was rushed to a hospital in Alicante. Her mum travelled with her in the ambulance and I followed in the car.
“By the time I got there she was already getting put on a ventilator and her oxygen levels were worryingly low.
“This was around 7am, and by 11am we were told she was critically ill and she was transferred to another hospital in Alicante where she has been for the last week.
Charlotte remains in ICU in Spain.
“She has had a slight improvement, but she is still very poorly, relying on the ventilator to breathe and fully sedated.”
The family have now moved to an apartment across the road from the hospital so they can stay by Charlotte’s bedside.
Stephen continued: “They have told us to prepare to spend weeks here while Charlotte recovers, they still don’t know what the cause of the bleeding is.
“If she continues to recover, there will be discussions further down the line about flying her home but, just now, we are focusing on each day.”
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