Piper had just graduated from preschool when she was rushed to hospital. Her mother has shared an urgent warning after the five-year-old was struck by an illness common among older Australians
A five-year-old girl who suffered a devastating stroke 40 minutes after graduating is beginning to make a 'miraculous' recovery.
Doctors at Melbourne's Monash Children's Hospital are astonished at how well Piper Wakley has recovered after he lost his ability to speak and fell unconscious.
Piper, from Albury in southern NSW, went from a bubbly little girl celebrating the end of kindergarten to an induced coma on December 18.
Doctors were unsure she would survive and her family were told to 'prepare to say goodbye'.
But on New Year's Day, her mother Tayla said, “Piper's condition is changing” and she now sits up in her hospital bed and talks.
“Although this is still something that requires a lot of rehabilitation, she is doing her very best to try, which is a huge difference from just a few days ago,” Ms Wakley told Daily Mail Australia.
Doctors at Monash Children's Hospital in Melbourne are amazed at how well Piper Wakley (pictured) has recovered after losing his ability to speak and falling unconscious
Piper sits up in her hospital bed, holding a gift she received from one of her doctors, including a replacement for a favorite brush her mother couldn't find
The details of what happened to Piper are shocking to every child and every parent.
On December 18, she was getting ready for a dip in the pool with her grandparents when she collapsed and couldn't be woken up.
She was rushed to Albury Hospital where a CT scan revealed she had suffered a stroke, which caused bleeding in her brain.
Piper was placed on life support and transferred to the Monash Pediatric ICU where she underwent emergency surgery to place a drain in her brain.
On December 20, she began breathing on her own and from not being expected to make it through the night, her condition changed to a relatively stable state.
She couldn't talk, walk or use most of the right side of her body, but the fact that she was alive was the best news her parents and grandparents could ever hear.
On December 29, her mother wrote on the website GoFundMe page for Piper: 'Our little girl surprises every doctor she comes into contact with.
“Eleven days ago we were told to prepare to say goodbye, and today we might take out the feeding tube!”
There was more good news on Sunday, when Mrs Wakley wrote: 'The drain is out and I can hold my baby again.
“I've been proud of this little girl since the day she was born, but today I've never been more proud.
“Today Piper experienced the trauma of another painful procedure while awake, and he handled it better than any adult.”
Piper suffered a devastating stroke on December 18 just 40 minutes after graduating from kindergarten (pictured).
The mother said some of the hospital's neurosurgery team told her “they have no medical explanation for how she made such a miraculous recovery.”
“Although it is a medical rarity, we know that everyone's prayers and love, and the sheer strength and determination that Piper has, have gotten her this far.”
Later on New Year's Eve, Mrs. Wakley shared a heartwarming story at the end of a traumatic year for the family.
'Piper woke up from her Midazolam/post procedure sleep with a beautiful card and gift from Dr. Nufail (Khan).
'Yesterday, in my irrational emotional state, I went looking for this exact hairbrush because Piper had been begging for it even before the stroke.
'When I couldn't find it, I was devastated. Imagine the pure joy when we opened this gift.
Tayla Wakley (left) is pictured with her five-year-old daughter Piper at Monash Children's Hospital
Piper's recovery has baffled doctors, who have “no medical explanation for how she made such a miraculous recovery.” Piper is pictured
“I'm grateful to know such a kind-hearted person who was the first to put a smile on Piper's face after the trauma of having her drain removed.”
Mrs Wakley said the family are “incredibly grateful for the help we receive and it has made such a big difference to our lives.
“We can focus our energy on Piper's recovery and journey to diagnosis, and we are so incredibly grateful for that.”
She added, “Happy New Year, may 2024 be a little kinder.”