Northamptonshire mum pleads public for help after baby girl left with permanent brain damage

Parents from Denton have turned to the public for help after a severe brain bleed left their baby girl unable to move, swallow or speak.

Three-year-old Margot is the daughter of Laura Billington, 31 and Ben Billington, 41. Their lives changed forever on May 20, 2021.

Margot was just 20 months old when she did not wake up at her usual time and Laura knew something was wrong. Margot was completely unresponsive so her parents rushed her to Northampton General Hospital.

She suffered a brain haemorrhage so doctors quickly put her into an induced coma. Margot spent the next few months at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford and then Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) fighting for her life.

Laura said: “It happened so fast we did not really realise or understand the severity of what was happening to her. Once she went to GOSH we knew she was really really unwell.

“It was the last thing we expected to happen to her because, before this, she was just a normal toddler.”

A vessel in Margot’s brain had ruptured so doctors had to remove part of her skull to relieve the pressure. She additionally endured a respiratory arrest, a cardiac arrest and two blood clots (Deep Vein Thrombosis). Against all odds, Margot survived but she had suffered a stroke.

She underwent a complex 12 hour surgery at GOSH in October 2021 to remove the ruptured vessel in her brain and repair her skull with a cranial plate.

When Margot woke up, she lost the ability to speak or move. She had to learn how to do everything from scratch - from swallowing food to sitting upright.

Laura said: “It was almost like being a newborn again.”

Margot, now three-years-old, has been making gradual progress with NHS physiotherapy, speech therapy and occupational therapy. She is starting to talk again and can walk briefly and unsteadily. She cannot use her right arm at all.

Laura and Ben want to provide their daughter with additional therapies to improve her mobility with an intensive CMIT course to encourage her to use her right arm.

Two to three years of these therapies will give Margot the best chance to get as much independence as possible.

Laura said: ““As her parents, we want to do everything we possibly can to make her life the best it can be.

“We are really thankful for the help we got from the NHS. Without the NHS, Margot would have died so we are really really grateful to them and forever will be.”

Physiotherapy sessions cost £120 each and intensive two week courses cost £4,500. Laura and Ben have set up a Just Giving page with a fundraising goal of £40,000 to get Margot the support she needs.

Margot loves to dance and attends the Northampton-based Born To Perform dance school every week in their ‘minis’ class. She loves to be outside and ‘messy play’ is her favourite activity.

Describing her daughter, Laura said: “She has a great sense of humour and makes everyone laugh. She has the same personality she had before her bleed, which is lovely to see. She has a very infectious smile.”

To follow Margot’s story, follow @amazing__margot on Instagram or @amazingmargot on Facebook.