We are sad to inform readers of the death of Briannah Rae Watson who died peacefully at home in her Mammy’s arms on Friday 29th of January. The Funeral was held today at St Clare’s Church followed by burial at Stephenson Way Cemetery.
Rachel would like to thank the nurses from Bishop Auckland Hospital, Maria Cooke, Lindsey Soakeld, Debbie Mattison, Shelly Rowell, Sue Lewis and Doctor Sue Haves for their support over the last year with Briannah’s care.
Rachel thanks all those who have supported her, and sent messages of sympathy.
Briannah was born on the 25th of March 215 following many difficulties through her mother Rachel’s pregnancy. She was born by emergency section eight weeks early when her heart rate dropped. She was in the Special Care Baby Unit at Darlington Hospital for three weeks before being allowed home, a perfect, beautiful girl.
32 hours later, however, she stopped breathing and was ‘blue lighted’ back to Darlington Hospital and placed on Continuous Airway equipment. Briannah worsened over the next two hours and was then ventilated and transferred to James Cook Paediatric Intensive Care Unit.
At that point no one had a clue what had gone wrong. At James Cook Hospital Briannah had to be resuscitated three times and her brain was starved of oxygen, but the hospital staff saved the baby girl.
They turned the machine off and amazingly Briannah begun to breathe on her own!
Briannah had Group B Strep, secondary to meningitis, cerebral palsy, brain damage and epilepsy.
Briannah was fed through a Nasogastric tube and was expected to only have days or weeks left to live but survived almost a year.
Rachel has shown immense courage throughout her ordeal and insisted her baby would live at home until she died. She has raised money for the hospital that saved her daughter’s life and hopes that Briannah’s condition will be detected earlier in other babies.
