My six-year-old daughter felt tired after soft play – she was actually having a stroke after her chickenpox reactivated

A MUM thought her young daughter was just tired from playing, only to later discover she was having a stroke.

“When the consultant said the word ‘stroke,’ my heart just stopped and thought I must have misheard," Holly Atkins recalled.

"She’s only six - how can a child so young have a stroke?"

The 34-year-old mum had taken her daughter Ottilie to a soft play centre in Hemel Hempstead town centre on October 13.

After 30 minutes of playing, the schoolgirl began to complain of feeling sick and dizzy.

Holly, a stay-at-home mum, thought Ottilie was just exhausted after running around and decided to cut short her shopping trip and head home.

“She looked pale, and clammy, and kept saying she felt dizzy,” Holly explained.

“I thought she’d overdone it.

"She’d been bouncing around with her sister, and it’s a small, warm soft play area, so I assumed it was nothing serious.

"I even got her to sit down and eat some sandwiches, and her colour seemed to come back. But she still said she felt strange.”

Holly, who is married to 36-year-old Phil Atkins, noticed something odd about Ottilie’s balance as they walked to the car.

“I held her hand, and she felt unsteady on her feet. But I still thought maybe she was just worn out,” she recalled.

At home, Ottilie rested and watched a film, but later that evening, things took a frightening turn.

“She suddenly said, ‘Mummy, I’ve got double vision—I can see things twice,’” Holly said.

“When I looked at her, it felt like her eyes weren’t aligned properly.

"One eye seemed to be rolling slightly, and I couldn’t ignore it anymore.

"I turned to Phil and said, ‘There’s something really not right here.’”

Holly decided to take Ottilie to Watford General Hospital’s A&E.

There, Ottilie underwent a barrage of tests, including an eye test, CT scan, blood tests, and two MRI scans.

Four days after being admitted, doctors delivered shocking news - Ottilie had suffered a stroke.

“I couldn’t believe it,” Holly said.

A stroke is when blood stops flowing to a part of your brain.

It can affect things like speech and movement, and take a long time to recover.

A stroke needs urgent medical help in hospital because it can be life-threatening.

Doctors explained that the stroke was likely caused by chickenpox Ottilie had contracted 18 months earlier.

The virus had reactivated in her system, leading to inflammation of the blood vessels in her brain, which restricted blood flow and triggered the stroke.

“I was stunned,” Holly said.

“Who would ever think chickenpox could come back like that? It’s terrifying to think something so common could cause something so serious.”

Ottilie spent three weeks in hospital undergoing treatment and receiving medication to reduce the swelling in her brain.

“Those weeks were so tough,” Holly said.

“At one point, we were allowed to take her home temporarily, but we had to keep going back to the ward every night for her medication.

"It was exhausting, but we were so relieved she was being looked after.”

Ottilie’s recovery has been remarkable.

While her eyesight remains affected, she still has double vision when looking to the right, her brain has started to adapt.

“Doctors said children’s brains can rewire themselves, which is why she’s made such amazing progress,” Holly said.