A Kingswood family had their lives changed forever when their youngest child Iris suffered a stroke.
Three-year-old Iris was left with no mobility on the left side of her body and can no longer use her left arm or leg. The family remains hopeful that she will regain some of her movement.
Iris and her mum Gabbie Smith have spent several weeks at Bristol Children’s Hospital, where the girl is being closely monitored.
Gabbie said: “Iris will spend roughly the next three months in hospital with a strict physio rehabilitation programme. This will hopefully teach her brain that she doesn’t just have one side, but two.”
Gabbie’s sisters have set up an online fundraiser to support the family, which has raised nearly £6,000.
Before her stroke, Iris had the life of a normal three-year-old: she went to nursery whileher mum went to work, and enjoyed going on her scooter with her big brother Leo at the local skatepark.
Gabbie said: “Iris is a very cheeky and funny little girl, who absolutely loves a poo joke, and she loves dancing. She enjoys playing with her brother and cousins. She also has a big interest in football and loves playing it and supporting Bristol City. I often hear her singing ‘One for Bristol City, two for the boys in red.’”
“Iris is a fiercely independent little girl and the stroke has left her with very minimal movement on her left side. This means she gets very frustrated when she can’t do the things she used to love doing. Iris is desperate to get down and walk, and move like she used to.”
With support from her family and the hospital, Iris’s recovery is progressing.
Gabbie said: “Iris is doing incredibly well: she has started sitting on her own again, and is now able to eat ‘normal’ foods after having a pureed diet, which she insisted was ‘too yucky to eat’. She’s still got her very cheeky personality and won’t hesitate in saying something funny to make people laugh.
“Iris has been such a fighter and I am incredibly proud of her. I am so grateful to see people continue to help us.
“We would also like to try and allow Leo to have some lovely times and make some memories with us again. He has found this situation very hard, yet he is being a super star. He has gone from being with mummy and Iris to hardly seeing us and sleeping at different people’s houses. He’s being a trooper but it does break my heart when I see him sad.”
https://www.gofundme.com/f/iris-after-having-a-stroke-at-just-3-years-old