A mum whose baby was left severely brain damaged following a tragic paddling pool accident has spoken of her nightmare.
Katie Burton was enjoying a hot summer’s day with her family in Bolton when tragedy struck on July 19.
The 33-year-old had been playing in the garden with her toddlers Penelope and George when they decided to go inside and cool down.
The family were sat together when three-year-old George wandered off to watch TV in another room.
Penelope, aged just one, toddled after him.
When midwife Katie got up to go to the kitchen, she noticed something in the paddling pool outside.
As her eyes focused, she realised it was Penelope laying motionless in the water.
What happened next would change their lives forever.
The tot had entered the garden through the open patio doors and accidentally fallen into the large paddling pool.
To Katie's horror, she was laying face down and completely unresponsive.
After screaming for Penelope’s father Grant to call an ambulance, Katie immediately dragged her tiny body from the water and started performing CPR.
It wasn’t long until a flock of emergency service vehicles, including an air ambulance, arrived at the scene.
Little Penelope was rushed to the intensive care unit at Manchester Children’s Hospital where she was placed into a week-long coma.
She was then transferred to the neurological ward where she stayed with her family for 10 weeks.
Tragically, scans revealed she had suffered a severe brain injury.
Penelope is now receiving various medications and therapies while back at home.
She is unable to sit, speak or eat.
Doctors don’t know if she will ever fully recover.
Speaking to the Manchester Evening News , Katie, who is 36-weeks pregnant with her third child, described the moment she spotted her lifeless daughter in the pool.
“I was numb, I was so shocked,” she said.
“I couldn’t even think.
“I just thought, ‘Oh my god, don’t leave me’.
Katie and Grant say they have spent the last few weeks teaching Penelope “everything from the beginning".
The family are now desperately searching for medications and treatments to improve her condition.
They have since set up a fundraiser through Just4Children, a charity for ill children, to help give Penelope the best quality of life.
So far, it’s raised an incredible £112,884.
The money will go towards expensive overseas treatments and those not available on the NHS.
Katie continued: “One of the things I would like to come out of this is for people to learn CPR.
“Hopefully people won't ever need to use it but if they do it could be lifesaving.
“Penelope is on loads of medication and is being fed through a tube.
“She’s like a new-born baby all over again.
“She was talking and walking before, now she can’t talk and she can’t walk.
“She has started smiling – so we’re hoping that’s the start.
“She might start crawling. We’re teaching her everything from the beginning.
“Doctors say she may struggle with mobility in the future.
“She’s our baby and she’s completely different to what she was.
“It’s really sad.”
The fundraiser, titled “The Best Chance for Princess P,” can be found by clicking the link here.
