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1 month ago
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A Fulham FC player has donated £500 to the family of a toddler stranded in a Mexico hospital. Sienna-Rose, who is 19-months old, suffered a brain haemorrhage while on holiday with her family.
Following this tragedy, her family has set up a fundraiser to help cover costs. They are stuck in Cancun, thousands of miles away from their home in Liverpool, while they anxiously wait to find out if she has any lasting brain damage.
Robinson has made 164 appearances for Fulham since signing in 2020, but previously played for Everton. The 27-year-old defender donated £500 on Saturday as the GoFundMe page nears £16k.
Sienna-Rose's mum Natasha Sargeant, 31, told The Liverpool Echo: "I don't have any words to describe what we have been through - it's been absolutely horrific."
Natasha and her partner Liam Millen, 39, had been sight-seeing around Mexico with children Harry, 13, Liam, 11, and Sienna-Rose when the toddler collapsed at their apartment. Natasha said the family were packing and planning the next part of their journey to Tulum when Sienna-Rose "dropped to the floor like she was having a seizure".
She added: "Next minute, she was constantly vomiting. We didn't know if she had banged her head." A CT scan showed her brain had suffered a haemorrhage and had doubled in size due to the amount of fluid.
"Most of the doctors and nurses couldn't speak English and we don't speak Spanish so it was difficult to communicate. I was beside myself - I was begging the surgeon to save her life.
"He said he did this surgery all the time. His assistant said he was the best neurosurgeon in the country and if she didn't have the surgery she would die."
Sienna-Rose was in surgery for around three-and-a-half hours to have a blood clot removed. Natasha said the surgeon had told the family the clot had been there for a number of months and "she was a ticking timebomb".
"It's been absolutely horrendous," she said. "She is the most happy, lovely little baby. To see her like this is absolutely horrendous. I would never wish what we are going through on anyone."
The family is only allowed one person in hospital at the time meaning Natasha and Liam have been taking shifts to either be by Sienna-Rose's bedside or looking after the boys. The family has rented an apartment close to the hospital so they can be together as much as possible.
Natasha continued: "The boys are so traumatised but have been amazing. They are devastated that they can't go and see her. We all just want to get out here. The surgeon says the next steps depend on how she responds to see if there is any lasting damage."
The toddler currently has a shunt into her head, which will be removed depending on how she responds. Natasha said her daughter is sedated at the moment so only wakes up for minutes at a time. If they can remove the shunt the hospital will start to wean Sienna-Rose onto solid food.
Natasha said the family does not know what will happen next as they wait to find out if permanent damage has been done. They do not know how long they will be in Mexico away from their loved ones, or if Sienna-Rose will be able to fly back as they are unsure if she has any more blood clots.
A fundraiser has been set up by Natasha's sister-in-law Amy McFadden to help the family with medical and transportation costs.
Natasha told the ECHO : "We have been getting messages of support but it's not like people can just jump on a flight because we're 10 hours away. We really appreciate all the offers of help and support."
She added: "I can't describe the feeling over the past three days. It's been the worst days of our lives. The hardest thing is not knowing. What do we do? We are putting all our trust in the doctors to save Sienna. It feels so lonely. We were supposed to be making memories with the family - it's absolutely heartbreaking."
You can donate to the fundraiser to support Sienna-Rose here.
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