Wakefield schoolgirl who suffered brain injury in freak zorb football accident selling lemonade to help charity that supported her

Lily-Mae West, who was seven at the time, was on holiday with her family in North Yorkshire when she fell onto a hard floor, hitting her head.

Her family, from Stanley, were playing zorbing football in February when Lily-Mae felt claustrophobic and cut her session short.

While she played at the side of the activity area, she was knocked over in a freak accident, hitting her head on a “rock hard floor”.

She sustained a brain injury and broke 15 bones in her head.

Mum Katie West, 32, and a special needs teaching assistant at Kingsland Primary School in Stanley, said: “It happened so fast and was a freak accident.

"When she was in hospital I was terrified. It didn’t seem real. It felt like I was watching what was happening from a distance.

“I remember when they put her to sleep, she’d occasionally wake up, frightened and scared, and would grab the tubes.

"She had tears running down her face. It was awful. As a parent you never imagine anything like this happening.”

Outwood Primary Academy Lofthouse Gate Lily-Mae was taken to Scarborough Hospital, where doctors initially treated her before sending her to Leeds General Infirmary (LGI) – home of Leeds Major Trauma Centre.

After a night in the children’s critical care unit, Lily-Mae was cared for at Leeds Children’s Hospital, where she made a remarkable recovery.

Lily-Mae, now eight, said: “I feel good and better now. I felt upset when I was in hospital as it was scary.

"When I couldn’t see, my dad read me books on the hospital ward which made me happy."

While on the ward, Katie and dad, Matthew West, were supported by Day One Trauma Support – a charity set up at LGI to help patients and families after major trauma with practical, emotional and financial support.

Day One’s caseworker Marianne Wadsworth, who works alongside the trauma team in Leeds, provided emotional support to the family, including financial and legal advice, and counselling for mum Katie and Lily- Mae’s brother Elliott, aged 11, - a pupil at Outwood Grange Academy.

Lily-Mae wanted to give back to those who cared for her and her family.

She is raising money for Day One, and to buy books and toys for Leeds Children’s Hospital for other injured and seriously ill children.

She will be selling lemonade and buns from her homemade lemonade stand, built by her granddad, on Friday, September 1, from 3pm to 5.30pm, outside her nanny’s house in Stanley.

Mum Katie also set up a GoFundMe page, which has already raised £850.

She said: “Day One not only supported my little girl, but they have also supported my whole family and the support and care we have received during Lily-Mae’s fundraising efforts has been wonderful.

“We’re so proud of Lily-Mae. It’s been her idea to fundraise for Day One and give back. She wanted to do something to say thank you to all the incredible care and support we got as a family.”

To support Lily-Mae, visit www.gofundme.com/f/trauma-from-day-one.