Meliden girl, 10, gets all-clear following brain infection recovery

Isabella Calvert, 10, developed sinusitis, a common infection of the sinuses, in October, and though this normally clears up in a few weeks, hers sadly spread to her brain.

She was admitted to Ysbyty Gwynedd, Bangor on October 29, before being transferred to Alder Hey Children's Hospital, Liverpool that night.

Isabella in hospital (Image: Sarah Calvert)

In early December, Isabella stood up and sat in a wheelchair for the first time since being admitted to hospital in late October (Image: Sarah Calvert)

The Ysgol Clawdd Offa pupil, who also has autism, has been suffering from meningoencephalitis, which causes swelling of the brain.

Her parents, Sarah and Michael, who run North Wales Foot Care together, were later told that Isabella may not wake up from her medically-induced coma.

But such has been her progress that, after being discharged from Alder Hey on January 2, Isabella was told by her neurosurgeon on April 20 that he does not need to see her again.

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Isabella returns home in January (Image: Sarah Calvert)

Sarah said: “Three weeks after she came home in January, she went back to Alder Hey for a MRI scan, and the scan was so good and clear that the neurosurgeon said he didn’t need to see her the following week.

“When he saw her again last week, he was just really pleased overall. He’d been expecting her to maybe have some seizures, which she hasn’t.

“She’s been having some physiotherapy, and when we go out for a day, she can use a wheelchair, because she still gets really fatigued.

“She can do whatever she feels ready to do now – she’s allowed to go on a plane, do PE in school; whatever she’s up to doing, really.”

Isabella with her mother, Sarah, and brother, Luca (Image: Sarah Calvert)

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Isabella, described as a “miracle case” by an Alder Hey surgeon, was able to return home in January after proving she could walk up and down stairs, and is now often managing half-days back at school.

Both of her parents have since been able to return to work, having stayed at Ronald McDonald House - “home from home” accommodation next to Alder Hey - before Isabella’s discharge.

Isabella meeting the Ed Sheeran waxwork in Blackpool with Luca (Image: Sarah Calvert)

Sarah added: “It’s incredible that we’ve almost come full circle. It’s hard to think about what happened, but we’re so grateful to everybody.

“This is the best possible outcome that we could have hoped for. One of the surgeons said she could count on one hand how many ‘miracle cases’ there have been at Alder Hey since she has been there, and that Bella was definitely one of them.

“Alder Hey were amazing; if they hadn’t done what they did, we might be having very different conversations now.

“We’re back to normal work-wise, and she’s doing mainly half-days at school, so she doesn’t get too tired, which seems to be working really well.”

Sarah and Michael were also able to enjoy trips to both Blackpool and to Manorafon Farm Park, Abergele during the Easter holidays with Isabella and her brother, Luca, five.

A fundraiser set up on GoFundMe by a close family friend, Kim Winter, to try to ease some of their financial worries, also exceeded £8,000 in donations.

Sarah added: “In Blackpool, she got to see the waxwork of Ariana Grande (at Madame Tussauds), which was so nice for her. It was just lovely to do something normal as a family again.

“She hasn’t needed any changes to the house to be made; we’ve just been allowed to borrow a wheelchair for as long as she needs it, which is great.

“Her school have been absolutely phenomenal with us. They’ve been really understanding.

“She’s not completely back to how she was, but she’s come such a long way, and there’s nothing that they (Alder Hey) are worried about with her at this stage.”