Family 'in hell' as critically ill baby stuck abroad

The mother of a baby who fell ill on holiday and cannot get home has said "every day is frightening and uncertain".

Sofia was visiting family in Hong Kong in July when her nine-month-old son Matthew contracted influenza A. He suffered three cardiac arrests, leaving him unconscious and on a ventilator.

His medical condition and the high cost of returning him home to Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, have left the family "living on earth but in hell", according to charity Lia's Wings.

The charity, which specialises in medical flights for children, is now trying to raise £200,000 to fly both Sofia and Matthew safely back to the UK.

After more than three months in hospital, Matthew remains critically ill.

Despite having holiday insurance, it was found this did not cover the expense of medical flights.

Sophia said: "We are desperate to get our little boy home.

"Being by Matthew's bedside is the only place I feel I should be right now, and although every day is frightening and uncertain, being with him is what keeps me going.

"We would never normally ask for help like this. It is a situation we could never have imagined finding ourselves in, and we simply cannot make this happen on our own.

"Our only hope is to get Matthew back to the UK, where he belongs, so he can be reunited with his dad and receive the ongoing specialist care he needs.

"We are just a family who went away on holiday with our healthy little boy, and we desperately want to bring him home."

Lia's Wings said commercial airlines were not equipped to carry children in Matthew's condition, while a dedicated air ambulance was "prohibitively expensive".

Charlotte Young, the charity's chief operational officer, said: "We are looking at a private aircraft with a medical team we have on standby.

"I would describe Sofia as living on earth but in hell, she is emotionally distraught.

"The only place she feels like there is any way of coping is when she is beside his bed.

"She does not know what is next, she is in limbo and she is finding it incredibly hard."

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