Just before May 2024, Ellie, a vibrant 15-year-old from Crewe, was living life like most other teenagers, enjoying school, dancing, and performing. But just a month later, Ellie found herself facing the toughest battle of her life.
During the May half-term, she began experiencing persistent headaches, nausea, and light sensitivity, which was initially thought to be a common sickness bug. However, by the end of the week, Ellie was vomiting up to 16 times in a single day and her family rushed her to the local A&E. Urgent blood tests and an MRI scan revealed a worrying mass in her brain.
Ellie was swiftly transferred to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, where the neurosurgery team quickly started preparing her for surgery the following morning.
“Ellie had bleed on the brain caused by a cavernoma—a cluster of abnormal blood vessels in the brain. Cavernomas can either bleed slowly, or bleed more extensively, causing dangerous pressure on the surrounding brain tissue. In Ellie’s case, the bleed was life-threatening, and surgery was necessary to remove the bleed.”
Miss Benedetta Pettorini, Consultant Paediatric Neurosurgeon at Alder Hey
Despite the initial surgery, the risk of further bleeds remained high, and just two days later, Ellie suffered a second bleed. She required a decompressive craniectomy—a procedure to remove a piece of her skull in order to relieve the pressure. The skull fragment was then placed in her stomach to keep it sterile until she was stable enough for it to be reinserted.
After the surgery, Ellie deteriorated further and was rushed to intensive care, and her condition remained critical. Over the next few weeks, she faced numerous challenges, including rare and dangerous infections and the need of a drain to help keep the intracranial pressure in normal range.
In total, Ellie underwent 9 surgeries over just 13 weeks. Ellie was left with no movement down her left hand side and lost the ability to walk and speak, communicating only with simple thumbs up or thumbs down. However, after several weeks, Ellie began to improve, and the fluid started draining from her brain naturally, eliminating the need for a lifelong shunt. When Ellie was stable enough, the skull fragment nesting in her abdomen was put back, marking a significant step forward.
It has been a long and challenging road, but with ongoing physiotherapy and speech and language sessions, Ellie has slowly regained her ability to walk, talk, and swallow. She still attends ongoing physiotherapy sessions to help her progress as she still has weakness on her left side. Her mum Joanne, said “I never imagined Ellie would go through something like this. She’s always been such a lively, energetic person, and this came out of nowhere. We still have a long way to go, but the improvement is nothing short of amazing. There was a time when she couldn’t even speak, and one day, as she started getting better, she whispered ‘I love you.’ We’re eternally grateful to the neurosurgery team who saved her life.”
Ellie said “At one point, I thought I would never go home. But the staff on ward 4A really looked after me and kept my spirits up. There are still things I can’t do, and it’s frustrating, but I know I’ll get there. I can’t wait to be back on stage, singing and dancing. Thank you, Alder Hey, for helping me get there. The amazing nurses on 4A became like friends to me and brightened my time there. I’ve just turned 16, and I’m so happy I was able to celebrate at home.”