THE Brown family wanted just one wish to come true this Christmas, to bring their daughter home.
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Chloe Brown, 5, had a trying 2016 to say the least, but she will be spending Christmas with her mum, dad and brother, Archie – a reality which didn’t seem achievable just four months ago.
The young girl was floored in August by mastoiditis, which meant she had a 112 night stay at Westmead Children’s Hospital in Sydney.
The figure has come to bear special significance for Chloe’s parents who are calling on Tamworth to roll up their sleeves for their daughter, and others.
Dad, Matt, and mum, Katie, want 112 people to donate blood to the Tamworth Red Cross to help boost critical stocks that gave Chloe “a good shot at recovery”.
“It was just a simple ear infection and she deteriorated pretty rapidly,” Mr Brown said.
“The infection spread to the mastoid bone and became mastoiditis and [went] further into her brain as well.
“So, when we got down to Sydney they had to remove a piece of her skull to relieve the pressure.”
It has been close to 11 years since Mr Brown last donated blood, and he said it’s probably something people don’t think about until it hits close to home.
“Chloe had to have a few blood transfusions during and after surgery the first couple of weeks we were down there,” he said.
The Browns have been overwhelmed by the amount of support and generosity from the Tamworth community, with a number of fundraisers driving young Chloe’s recovery.
“It meant we could be together as a family down there and they took care of all of our problems so we could just focus on Chloe 100 per cent,” Mr Brown said.
“Because of all of the generosity of everyone in town, it’s giving Chloe a fantastic recovery and the doctors agree that because we got to concentrate on her it made a huge difference to how she recovered.”
The youngster still has a long road ahead of her, with a cochlear implant to aid her hearing and some work on her walking, but the ordeal hasn’t dampened her spirits.
“Apart from that she should be back to 100 per cent,” Mr Brown said.
“She’s enrolled to go to school next year and everything should be smooth sailing, hopefully from here.”
And, now being home for Christmas is a dream come true for the Brown family.
“Our goal was to get home for Christmas and it was something – in the early stages of Chloe being in Sydney – we didn’t think we’d get back for,” Mrs Brown said.
“It’s very important and very special for us.”
Find “Chloe’s Challenge” on Facebook or contact the Red Cross to find out how to help the cause.