A seven-year-old girl who suffered a stroke while going down a slide has had to have a third of her skull removed.
Charliee Sue Salisbury was at a park in Rickmansworth with her dad, Danny Salisbury, 43, on February 9 when he "instantly" noticed a change in his daughter's face.
Waiting for her at the bottom of the slide, Danny spotted that the left side of Charliee's face had dropped before she collapsed as she tried to stand up.
*Warning: article contains graphic images*
After being taken to Watford General Hospital, a CT scan revealed Charliee had suffered a stroke caused by a large blood clot in her brain.
Charliee was then transferred to Royal London Hospital with Danny and mum, Hannah, 40, where medics spent five hours attempting to remove the clot 12 times but were unsuccessful.
In the early hours of February 10, medics removed a third of Charliee's skull as her brain was dangerously swollen.
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After the successful five-hour procedure, the family was then sent to Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) where Charlie left sedated until February 14, when she finally came around.
Although she can mumble, her movement is limited and she has no function on the left side of her body.
Charliee will need further surgery for a metal plate to be fitted to her skull and medics predict she will take three months to recover in a rehabilitation centre.
Heartbroken dad Danny, a delivery driver, from Rickmansworth, said: "As soon as I saw Charliee coming down the slide, I knew something wasn't right - she didn't have the same glow in her beautiful face.
"When they confirmed it was a stoke, we were hoping the damage was minimal.
"The hours of surgery Charliee had were the longest of our lives but we're thankful for the medics' amazing efforts.
"Since she's come around, every day, we are hoping for a miracle.
"She recognises her mum and I but she can't say much - just mumbles.
"Charliee is a treasure - singing and dancing was her life.
"I'd give anything to have her do the same right now."
Danny and Hannah, who share five other children, aged 26, 23, 21, 20, 17- were left "panicked" when Charliee's left side of her face "suddenly drooped" when going down the slide.
"I instantly knew something wasn't right and when we got to the hospital, medics confirmed my worst fear - that she had suffered a stroke caused by a blood clot," Danny said.
Although requiring specialist treatment at GOSH, the family was sent to Royal London Hospital until a bed became available.
Medics initially spent five hours trying to remove the blood clot but proved unsuccessful.
She then spent six days in ICU before being transferred to a high-dependency unit and then a shared ward where she has remained since and receives daily physiotherapy.
The clot on Charliee's brain remains and the repeated attempts to remove it have caused "severe damage" to the right side of her brain.
"Medics still aren't able to advise what caused the stroke and we don't know what her future will look like.
"I miss seeing our little girl dance around, she has that kind of infectious joy.
"If I wasn't there to notice the sudden change in her, I dread to think where we'd be."
A close friend of the Salisbury's has set up a GoFundMe page to help adapt their home and reduce the financial strain.
Danny said: "Hannah and I aren't able to work at the moment and we'll have to have the downstairs renovated for Charliee because she can't get to her upstairs bedroom.
"We've been blown away by the generosity so far and would be grateful for any continued support."
To donate to the family's GFM please visit www.gofundme.com/f/supporting-charliee-salisbury
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