Cancer girl Olivia ‘takes turn for the worse’ day after 5,000-mile flight

Published on 29/06/2012 01:32

A CANCER-STRICKEN schoolgirl has “taken a turn for the worse” after showing early signs of improvement following her return to Scotland after an arduous 5,000-mile flight from Mexico.

Seven-year-old Olivia Downie, who is terminally ill, appeared to be slowly coming out of a coma following her dramatic return to Aberdeen Airport on a private air ambulance flight on Wednesday.

The Fraserburgh schoolgirl is being kept alive on a ventilator at the Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital where her parents, Steven, 34, and Lauren, 27, are maintaining a bedside vigil.

Linza Corp, the founder of Families Against Neuroblastoma, the charity which helped raise the funds for the mercy flight, said yesterday that Olivia’s condition was continuing to fluctuate.

She said: “I was speaking to Lauren and it appears that things have taken a turn for the worse. Olivia [had] appeared to be getting better and responding to Lauren’s voice and questions. She was trying to shake her head and nod her head, and she was smiling.

“I think that being back home may be the catalyst for that.”

She continued: “Things may be not quite so great, but that may be as a result of her being sedated. She may have been overstimulated just through the fact that she’s back home.”

A spokeswoman for NHS Grampian said that Olivia remained in a serious but stable condition. “Her parents are hugely appreciative of the kindness and generosity which has been shown to them, but request that their privacy is fully respected at this difficult time.”