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After losing one child, Matthew from Mersyside and his wife DanDan are struggling to get their other baby back to the UK from China for special treatment – the babies were born prematurely.In order to visit specialists, two new parents are attempting to transfer their daughter from a Chinese hospital to the UK.After having their daughter prematurely in China, Mersyside native Matthew Melia, 35, and his wife DanDan, 33, are hoping to collect $25,000 so they can bring her back to the UK.DanDan gave birth to daughters Mia and Scarlett by caesarean section on May 3 instead of this month as the couple, who reside in Shenzhen, China, had anticipated.Nearly a hundred miles away from Matthew and DanDan’s home, Scarlett and Mia were sent to a hospital in Guangzhou.There, they received CT scans which showed major problems for both babies and Scarlett´s condition was so severe that Matthew and DanDan were faced with the decision to stop treatment altogether, Liverpool ECHO reported.Scarlett Rose passed away in Matthew’s arms on June 8; this was the first time she had been held by her dad.Mia underwent brain surgery at just 6 weeks old and is fighting the many complications of being born prematurely.“We just want to bring Mia home,” Matthew’s mother Sue told the Liverpool Echo. “Doctors say she will require a shunt put in, which is an internal drain on the brain, but we don’t want that to be done in China.We need the three of them back home so we can help take care of them since we’ve been insane.The physicians had been encouraging the parents to quit caring for the babies and give up on them from the beginning, but Matthew and DanDan did not want to do so, according to the hospital’s poor communication with the parents.Mia has now been alive for eight weeks, but her parents have yet to hold her.There is a strict no-visitor policy in the neonatal units Mia has been in, even for parents.Matthew and DanDan have only seen Mia through a window and were only recently allowed in to take photos for her Passport. They receive photographs from a nurse twice a week.Sue said: “They are not doing good and were desperate to have children and were delighted when they got the news.“DanDan did have a few problems during the pregnancy but everything seemed okay.“They have not been able to hold their children and the first time Matthew did Scarlett died in his arms.“It was absolutely harrowing for the both of them.”As Mia is in hospital in a different city to where her parents lived, they have been renting a flat near the hospital.Unfortunately, due to lack of funds they have now had to return to Shenzhen.They are now returning twice a week to the hospital DanDan’s frozen breast milk.They can view the room where Mia is from a corridor.Sue said: “For parents to have to go through everything they have is awful and they are distraught but are fighting now for Mia.They want to get her to either Liverpool Women’s Hospital or Alder Hey Hospital.“Mia has had brain bleeds and will need better care that she can get here, in the UK.As soon as we can, we want to try to fly her out of China.The family has thus far contributed £15,000 towards the transfer’s costs in partnership with Lia’s Wings, a nonprofit organisation that arranges plane transport for kids.They are currently seeking assistance from others to raise the last £25,000 required for the special medical flight home.
*The opinions expressed in the article are solely those of the author.* Follow Us
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