A 26-year-old teacher from Co Meath who suffered a near-fatal blood clot in Dubai is slowly beginning to regain consciousness, according to her loved ones.
The situation had appeared dire for Aisling Brady, who suffered consecutive seizures and cardiac arrests followed by a stroke after she fell ill while teaching a class in the UAE city on November 27th.
She received a tracheotomy on Wednesday, and in a post on Friday on a fundraising page dedicated to Ms Brady her boyfriend Kristian Mansfield said she was now breathing without the aid of a machine and had been taken off sedation.
"After a tracheotomy Wednesday, the doctors began to reduce her sedation on Thursday. Slowly but surely she is starting to come around and today they took her off sedation completely," read the update on the GoFundMe page, which has so far raised more than €120,000.
“As she slowly awakes from a very long sleep, they have concerns her breathing would be something she needed long-term support with, but when [her mother] Antoinette arrived this morning . . . every breath being taken was by Aisling and not the machine.
“We have been with her through most of the day, she is more alert, although extremely drowsy, and is following our movements and reacting to touch. We must remember these movements are laboured and only small, but she is progressing in a very positive direction.”
Full assessment
The post added that the Irish woman’s condition will become clearer over the course of the weekend as the last of the sedation wears off and doctors make a full assessment.
It also stated that all monies raised through the GoFundMe campaign will go towards paying for an air ambulance to transport Ms Brady back to Ireland, as well as her ongoing rehabilitation.
Her loved ones said that although the funding drive has well exceeded the initial goal of €80,000, a proportion of the money is taken by the hosting platform as a fee, and the rest may be subject to some form of tax.