Denishar Woods suffered an electric shock after using a garden tap. Photo / Supplied
Denishar Woods suffered an electric shock after using a garden tap. Photo / Supplied
Woods, the 11-year-old fighting for her life after she recieved a massive electric shock from a garden tap at her home in Perth two weeks ago, is defying the odds.
Upon her admission at Princess Margaret Hospital on Saturday, March 3, her family were told she was brain dead.
But incredibly, on Monday, the young girl was placed upright in a wheelchair for the first time, news.com.au reports.
"Last we were told she wouldn't make it off life support to now, watching her get in the hoist and get in the wheelchair," her mother Lacey Harrison told 7News.
This is the latest in a string of achievements for Denishar following her accident — she stunned doctors last week when she started breathing on her own without a respirator.
At that point doctors changed her condition from serious to stable.
Denishar was shocked by up to 230 volts AC when she touched the outdoor tap at the family's public housing property in Beldon. The shock is thought to have lasted for about 10 minutes.
Denishar Woods receives medical care at Princess Margaret Hospital in Perth. Photo / Supplied
The schoolgirl's mother was also jolted by the current when she pulled her daughter out of the electrified water.
Last week Ms Harrison told the ABC that her daughter's organs overheated in the incident.
She said the young girl's organs reached 38C and she was on a cooling pad in hospital to try to limit the damage.
"There's no signs of whether or not she's going to pull through. They're just keeping her organs cool," she said.
Ms Harrison said she was personally very unwell after the incident, but checked out of hospital early so she could be with her daughter, the ABC reported.
"I should be laying there, not here," Ms Harrison said. "I just want my baby to wake up."
An EnergySafety investigation is under way into exactly what caused the tap to give off the shock.
Michael Bunko, a director at WA's electricity regulator, believes the tragedy was likely caused by a fault in the neutral conductor supplying power to the property.
An upstream "open circuit neutral" could be caused by corrosion, a loose connection and in some cases, poor workmanship, Mr Bunko said, and residual current devices would not protect against them.
"If you get a fault upstream, generally before the main switchboard where the electricity is coming in, the RCD can't see it and won't operate," he said.
Lawyer John Hammond said the Department of Housing's responsibility to ensure the safety of public housing was clear.
"If the young girl dies, the mother and all the siblings who were present would have a claim against the state for nervous shock," Mr Hammond told AAP.
"If she survives with horrendous injuries, then as a minor, she will have a massive claim against the state as well. It would be a multimillion-dollar claim."
In addition to offering counselling, the state government should also agree to pay for all medical costs, which could be done without admitting liability, he said.
