A TEN-YEAR-OLD who died for six minutes has been allowed to return home after several months in hospital.

Laila-Rose Stanhope could spend the rest of her life with the mental age of a five-year-old but every opportunity to help her recover from her brain damage is being made and mum Charley-Rose is just delighted to have her back in Basildon.

She said: “It is brilliant to have her back.

“My house was burgled while she was in hospital and they released the sewer main in the bathroom so we can’t go back there at the moment as we don’t know how good her immune system is.

“Instead we are staying at my mum’s which thankfully is only ten minutes away.”

Doctors feared Laila-Rose would be two-thirds brain damaged and unable to walk, talk, think or do anything for herself.

However, the youngster has made a fantastic recovery and has 80 per cent of her speech back.

She still struggles to walk, and requires splints on her legs, but can think for herself.

Her mum added: “We are lucky she can continue her rehabilitation at Basildon Hospital as they have all the facilities there.

“I can’t praise Basildon Hospital enough.

“Laila can remember everything from when she was in the coma which is amazing.

“I made good friends with someone who was in a nearby ward and she would always say ‘stranger danger’ when she was visiting us and Laila remembers that.”

At first Charley-Rose thought daughter Laila-Rose was having a bad headache.

However, the Cherry Tree Primary School pupil was rushed to hospital after having seizures.

While at Great Ormond Street Hospital she had a heart attack and went into a coma.

The young fighter has pulled through out of the coma, but has been left with some brain damage and regressed in line with someone from Year One rather than Year Six.

After four months, Laila-Rose was finally allowed home at the end of last week.

As well as the medical impact the bleed on the brain has had on the youngster, there is also a psychological impact on the whole family.

Charley-Rose added: “Every time she gets a headache or feels ill she wants to go to hospital so I have to explain to her I can’t keep taking her there, but she is so scared.

“I have been trained to spot signs of a bleed on the brain.

“There is a high risk she could have another one and they still don’t know what caused the first one.

“If she ever bangs her head I have been told to take her to hospital as it is better to be safe than sorry.” Her mum organised a special welcome home party for Laila-Rose so she could be surrounded by all her family and friends.”