Doctors Warned Parents Their Little Girl Wouldn’t Survive ‘Worst Case Of Meningitis’- It Stole Her Limbs But Now Two Years Later She’s All Set To Start School

This little girl named Kia got sick with a rare strain of the disease when she was only nine months old

Kia Gott, who is about to turn 4 in December, was born a healthy kid like her siblings. She was nine months old and was learning to crawl and clap when she caught a rare strain of the disease. The little girl got severely sick and fought for her life with black arms and legs.

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Kia also has three other siblings - two sisters and one brother

Her parents were shocked, they couldn't believe their healthy little girl was now fighting to survive. Kia ended up having all four limbs amputated, she was also left severely brain-damaged.

But this didn't discourage Kia's mum Vikki, 33, and dad Paul 38, who were determined to bring their daughter home to Bradford, West Yorks. The parents struggled and finally got their wish in June 2018 after 10 months in hospital.

Kia has come a long way, she is set to have her first day at school on Monday, which would be a huge milestone for the family.

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"Kia's doing a lot better than the doctors ever thought she ever would," says the mum Vikki, in an exclusive chat with Fabulous.

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"When I look back to doctors asking me if we should stop her treatment, I did think 'am I just being selfish?' But something told me she was still fighting. The way she now proves I was right"

Kia's parents were warned their daughter would certainly go blind, they were told she wouldn't be able to smile or move but the strong little girl proved all the doctors wrong.

Vikki says: "I remember when she first started smiling, it would just come up on one side of her mouth and I thought ‘is she?’

"It was always when I’d speak to her, sing or try to give her a little surprise."

"So we just kept playing with her and the more we did that, the more her smile grew."

"I couldn’t believe it at first. Now we know she is happy, which is the most important thing because she can show it through her smile."

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Vikki and Paul have a beautiful family of 6. Their other three kids are son Kayden, 11, and daughters Elsie, seven, and Espe, two.

Her youngest daughter Espe's beautiful name means 'hope', she was conceived just three months after Kia contracted meningitis. Vikki previously described her baby daughter as "a massive shock, but a blessing".

Both the parents are now full-time carers to Kia, dad Paul plans to return to work as a window fitter when their youngest child Espe starts school in two years time.

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Vikki says: "Daily life is challenging. Kia’s still peg fed through a tube that goes into her tummy."

"Normally when I get up at 6.45 am I'll change her nappy because she’s still in one, then I'll check if her machine has finished feeding her milk from overnight."

"I give her medicine in the morning because she’s epileptic. Then I'll get her washed and dressed."

"By 7.30 am my two-year-old will be awake, so I'll get her dressed, give her breakfast, and change her nappy in between."

"I have two other children so life’s never easy, but we manage."

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The little Kia was just like other babies, unfortunately, she fell ill in September 2017, months before she was able to get her meningitis jab aged one.

The parents were informed by the doctors that Kia had the worst case of Meningitis C septicemia (blood poisoning) they'd seen in 25 years as well as "high brain damage".

The fighter baby went through seven operations, including separate amputations for each of her limbs and one to insert her feeding tube into her stomach.

The happy news is that since they came back from the hospital, Kia had been readmitted only once, when doctors were concerned about her breathing.

Vikki said: "Touch wood we've never been back overnight."

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She adds: "When I look back, it feels amazing, I can’t believe how quickly Kia recovered from poorly she was."

"At the time, you go into autopilot, but now I can appreciate what a strong little girl she is."

"Kia's a happy child, she can only really communicate through smiling or crying, but she doesn’t often cry, only if there's something bothering her stomach or she’s got a dirty nappy."

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Kia uses two two specialist wheelchairs, one when she stays indoors and one when she goes outside.

Her mum says: "Kia will never be able to do a lot of the things other people take for granted."

"She can’t brush her hair or her teeth, she can’t sit up or walk into a room."

"But I believe as long as I can help her with those things and keep her involved in our normal day to day routine, then she’s living a good life."

"We just take every day as it comes. We are still unsure of her future, there are underlying health conditions that could arise in the future, and she’ll have to have more operations on her limbs."

"But the way I see it, we've already been through the worst, so nothing else is really going to challenge us."

Though the parents stay positive, the pandemic was really difficult for them. They tried to keep all their kids safe and also tried their best to keep Kia separate from her siblings, so she wasn't put at risk.

Vikki says: "It was really hard, especially at the beginning. We did almost four months of shielding."

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"I pulled my older two children out of school before they actually closed down, from early March."

"Because Kia’s classed as vulnerable, we had to all stay in. But then I had to keep her in her room and limit her time with the family, because of the risk of someone catching coronavirus and passing it on."

"It was really difficult, we were stuck in constantly and having a young one as well."

"We were glad to get a bit of normality when our two eldest went back to school last month."

"Kia was due to start school in September too, but I wasn't comfortable sending her."

"I wanted to wait and see how it was with coronavirus, but I'm hoping to send her on Monday to join after half term."

What really scared the parents was the thought that an unknown virus is killing so many people out there. They knew how serious this could be after having seen the devastating effect of bacterial meningitis on their little girl.

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Vikki says: "It did affect how I felt about it. I remember another mum saying to me ‘there’s no evidence children suffer severely from it’.

"I just said ‘who thinks their child’s going to catch meningitis? They don’t, but mine did’.

"So I don’t want to take that risk with Kia, you can’t ever be too safe and that’s one thing I’ve learned."

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