UPDATE: The parents of 3-year-old Kawa Sweeney, who nearly drowned in a Bali swimming pool, have been dealt another devastating blow.
The Sydney toddler was declared brain dead by medical staff at Princess Margaret Hospital in Perth. As 7 News reports, her parents, Des Sweeney and Dee Tang, are now facing the decision of turning off her life support.
A family friend, Pearl Tan, explained that Kawa had been unresponsive to tests.
“There’s a lot of disbelief that this has happened and it’s quite difficult to think beyond the next five minutes right now,” she said.
“I know that the family are just talking and considering what to do next. But it’s a pretty tough situation for everyone.”
ORIGINAL:
Three-year-old Sydney girl Kawa Sweeney was in Bali with her parents on their combined holiday and work trip.
But on Sunday morning, devastation struck when Kawa was pulled unconscious from the pool at the villa her family was staying at.
As The Sydney Morning Herald reports, the little girl was resuscitated by a Perth doctor staying at the same resort.
Generous donors pledged money to the family’s GoFundMe page to pay for an emergency medical plane back to Australia and for the little girl’s medical expenses.
Kawa was flown to Perth and remains in an induced coma at Princess Margaret Hospital. She is in a stable condition.
“Update on my beautiful niece, she has arrived back in Perth and now at PMH,” she wrote.
“She is in an induced coma and dr are running tests on her. Thank you all again for your support, prayers and wishes during this time. So blessed to have so much [love] come our way.”
Ms Walsh also told Perth Now: “(We’re) just so, so incredibly grateful for [the doctor] and the people around that were able to save her life.
“She’s just a happy little spirit, she’s just a bright spark that makes you smile.”
The family said any money raised through crowdfunding that is not needed for medical expenses would be donated to charity.
As Seven News reports, Kawa’s parents, Dee Tang and Desmond Sweeney, run the homewares business Kawaiian Love Shack.
