Napier family 'eternally grateful' for Starship Hospital's treatment of daughter

Annabella is coming to terms with what happened to her three years ago. Photo / Warren Buckland

Annabella Lundstrom's family are grateful they still have her with them because three years ago they were unsure that would happen.

Her father Adam Rant, from Napier, said Annabella contracted the flu in 2017, aged 10, and after three days she seemed to be recovering, so she rested at home with her mum Melissa.

"That afternoon on returning from the shop I went to check on her and found her unresponsive on our bed," he said.

"At first I thought she was asleep and said 'Wake up sleepy head'. There was a groan as I gently shook her but no response. I talked to her and asked if she was feeling okay but still no response.

"I shook her a little harder and she would not wake up. I'm pretty sure by this stage I was talking quite loudly and continued to try and get her to wake up but nothing."

"I tried sitting her up and asked her to open her eyes but she flopped back down and panic mode hit. I called Melissa and told her that she was unresponsive but breathing and I picked her up to take her to the car and to the doctors," Rant said.

Melissa described her state as that of a "floppy doll" as she sat in the back seat with her on the drive to the doctors.

"Nurses tried to get a response but she could only groan and her eyes rolled back in her head," he said.

"They told us she should go to the hospital so we put her back in the car and sped to Hastings Hospital ED. They took her straight into ICU where she had her first seizure. They stabilised her and she stayed the night in ICU.

"The next day she seemed better and after tests, they admitted her to the ward. We had dinner together and Melissa stayed the night with her. The next day she had breakfast and was getting dressed when she had a major seizure and was rushed to ICU again."

At that point the family and doctors decided to place her in an induced coma on life support and fly her to Auckland's Starship Hospital.

"Numerous tests were done to try and find out what was wrong but nothing conclusive was found," he said.

"They bought her out of the induced coma and she regained consciousness shortly after."

Annabella Lundtsrom in ICU, in Starship Hospital. Photo / Supplied

Annabella spent four days recovering but was placed on anti-seizure medication, which stopped any further seizures.

"All the specialists were stumped as to what caused her illness and put it down to a brain infection which probably mutated from the flu," Rant said.

Annabella Lundstrom is, thankfully, recovering from her illness which saw her transported to the Starship Hospital. Photo / Warren Buckland

Nearly three years on and Annabella, now 13, continues her slow recovery.

"We have found that she now processes things differently and has some anxiety and mental health issues," Rant said.

"We could no longer send her to mainstream schools as she would get extreme anxiety and her brain would block everything out. We continued with the anti-seizure medication and constant specialist follow-ups for around 12 months and even now the specialists do check-ups."

Annabella now attends Te Kuru online learning and is starting to come to terms with what happened to her and deal with her mental health as she goes.

"We are eternally grateful that she has recovered and we still have her with us because there were moments when no one could tell us if she would even come out of the coma or come off life support," he said.

"We owe a great debt of gratitude to Starship, air ambulance and all the specialists and nurses in the PICU ward who supported us during the ordeal.

"They enabled both me and Melissa to stay at Ronald McDonald House to be by her side, they kept us informed about tests, test results and supported us financially with petrol vouchers, accommodation, three meals a day and plane tickets home."

Annabella being transported by Air Ambulance to the Starship Hospital. Photo / Supplied

Since then, when they can, the family has donated to air ambulance and Starship Hospital because "we know that without donations and support they cannot continue to help others like us to save the life of a loved one".

With a shortfall of half a million dollars the Starship Foundation is raising funds this June to help keep the Starship National Air Ambulance service flying.

While New Zealand was at alert level 4 due to the global coronavirus pandemic, the Starship National Air Ambulance was one of the few planes in the sky, and 12 retrieval missions took place between March 25 and May 13.

John Beca, Starship Clinical Director, Medical and Surgical explained why it was such a vital service.

"Accidents and illness can happen to our children anywhere in New Zealand," he said.

"Starship has New Zealand's only dedicated paediatric intensive care unit, and any child requiring anything more than short term intensive care comes to Starship."

The Starship Foundation raises $1.5 million annually to help keep the Starship National Air Ambulance service flying.

Donations can be made at www.keepstarshipflying.org.nz