This incredible video shows the moment brave Kia Gott opened her eyes for the first time after emerging from a week long coma following life-saving surgery.
The 11-month-old toddler had to have all four limbs amputated after contracting ‘one of the worst cases of meningitis’ a doctor treating her had ever seen in 25 years.
In the moving video, mum Vikki Mitchell, 30, greets Kia excitedly as she opens her eyes and looks around.
As she switches on a light a nurse gently strokes Kia’s chin, saying “hello baby, we’ve not seen you for a while”.
Doctors became increasingly concerned when Kia had not woken after surgery for her third amputation and her gut was not working.
Parents Paul Gott, 35, and Vikki were told she had fallen into a coma and were preparing for the worst.
Kia’s Aunt Donna Gott, 44, said: “We’d been through a terrible fortnight.
“She had a scan and we were told there hadn’t been any further brain deterioration.
“Then the same night Vikki was there when she woke up and opened her eyes.
“It was like Christmas – we’d been told she had gone into a coma.
“It’s hard to put into words how ecstatic Vikki was – we all cried in relief that she is still here.”
The tot, of Bradford, West Yorks., became ill with meningitis C septicaemia two months ago and is being treated at a high dependency unit at Leeds General Infirmary.
She could suffer hearing and sight loss and have 90 per cent brain damage, doctors warn.
Paul discovered the rash on his daughter’s face, neck and chest when she fell ill two months ago.
He had noticed the discolouring of his daughter’s skin after going to check on her in the middle of the night.
Paramedics arrived fast but her veins had collapsed, so they had to drill into her tiny shin to give her emergency drugs.
Kia was rushed to Bradford Royal Infirmary where medics told her family it was meningitis and she was not likely to survive.
Paul’s horror has increasingly turned to anger after the NHS raised the age of at which babies are vaccinated for meningitis C from three months old to twelve months in July last year – six months before Kia was born.
He said a heartfelt letter the family had received from Sophie Countess of Wessex pledging her support meant very little when the he had been so badly let down.
He said: “It’s all very nice but sending that letter is meaningless.
“If she really wants to help she can come to the hospital and bring the person who made that decision with her.
“Kia is not just a number and to me the person who made that decision caused this – I’d like that person to come to the hospital and spend some time with my daughter.”
Mr Gott described the last two months “like a dream he can’t wake up from”.
He said: “I feel like my insides have been ripped out – this has destroyed Kia’s life and the rest of our lives.
“Kia will never buy a pair of trainers or even pick her nose.”
The tough little tot now faces a hard fight and will remain in high dependency for the next three months as she undergoes skin grafts and is weaned off powerful and addictive painkiller fentanyl.
The powerful effect of the drug means doctors have so far been unable to assess the extent of brain damage with certainty.
But the family remain convinced she responds to their voices and say they will not give up Kia.
They have created a fundraising page to help pay for home adaptions to make it suitable for the baby when she is finally discharged from hospital.
Wellwishers at justgiving.com/crowdfunding/emma-simpson-2 have brought in more than £35,000 so far.
