Baby who fell ill in Mexico flies home to UK

A 19-month-old girl who suffered a brain haemorrhage while on holiday in Mexico has been flown home to a UK hospital after a fundraising appeal.

Sienna-Rose, from Liverpool, collapsed in Cancun and underwent life-saving surgery, but the family were told it would cost more than £100,000 to fly her home in a plane with specialist medical equipment.

More than £150,000 was raised and the charity, Lia's Wings, organised the flight back.

Sienna-Rose and her mother Natasha arrived on Saturday night and she was transferred to Liverpool's Alder Hey Children's Hospital where they were greeted by a crowd of well-wishers.

The medical plane had to refuel in Canada during the 5,000 mile (8,047km) 11-hour journey from Mexico.

Sienna-Rose is currently in a stable condition at Alder Hey.

It is thought she will need long-term care to learn how to walk and talk fully again.

Lia's Wings chief executive officer Charlotte Young told BBC North West Tonight that the family's resilience had been "inspiring".

She said the long-haul flight "would have been exhausting but we tried to make it as comfortable and as safe as possible for Sienna-Rose and her mum".

Ms Young added: "The road to recovery is long now. Sienna-Rose will have to learn to sit up again, to walk again and speak again as she was prior to the emergency."

The charity boss said Sienna-Rose was "still not well" as she was believed to be "fighting an infection" but she was "doing well in the circumstances".

Natasha said the family had "been to hell and back" after Sienna-Rose suffered a brain haemorrhage.

She had been playing in the family's hotel apartment with her two older brothers when she fell ill.

Her mother Natasha, 31, told the BBC: "It all happened really quickly.

"She was having a seizure. She wasn't crying. She was purple, she was stiff, she was unable to move."

The family said they were eventually told Sienna-Rose needed emergency surgery to remove fluid from her brain.

"It was horrendous," Natasha said.

Natasha said they would "forever be in debt to everyone that has helped get our baby home".

She said the family had received "love and support from not just Liverpool but around the country".

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