Mum-to-be suffered burst brain tumour which forced her to give birth while in a coma: 'Trapped in her own body'

A mum who was forced to give birth to her daughter while in a coma after a burst brain tumour, has been left "trapped in her own body", but is vowing to return home to be with her baby.

Emma Taylor, 33, from Chelmsford, Essex was placed in an induced coma before giving birth to baby Ophelia by emergency caesarean in October last year.

Two days later, she had an operation to remove a brain tumour but remained in a coma for another three months.

Now, six months on, the dental hygienist it is still in an NHS rehab centre after the burst tumour caused her to suffer paralysis.

But Taylor, who can't yet talk and communicates by head and hand movements, is determined to recover for her baby daughter.

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Taylor initially collapsed on the evening of 30 October after complaining of a headache earlier in the day.

She was seven and a half months pregnant at the time, leaving her partner Scott Weeks, 47, desperately worried for both her and their unborn baby.

While helping his partner, he noticed the left side of her body was lifeless and her right eye was half open and half shut.

Weeks called 999, but was told to expect a four-hour wait for an ambulance, so he drove Taylor to the hospital himself.

Shortly after arriving, doctors decided to deliver Ophelia via C-section so they could carry out scans without affecting the baby.

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After the birth, tests revealed Taylor had been living with a non-cancerous brain tumour, likely since she was born.

"I knew she hadn't been feeling well, and while I was downstairs she fell out the bed and was sick on the floor," explains Weeks, who works in sales and marketing.

"I called an ambulance, but they couldn't get to us fast enough, so I decided to drive Emma myself.

"It's lucky I did, because doctors said if I had waited four hours, there would have been a very different outcome.

"They needed to carry out scans on Emma, but to do that safely, they delivered Ophelia first.

"The scans then showed a huge tumour she'd been living with which had burst after pregnancy hormones accelerated its growth

"This caused a bleed on the brain, and as a result, her right brain stem and right eye were affected, leaving her left side paralysed."

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After her daughter's birth, Taylor was air-lifted to Queens Hospital in Romford, east London, where surgeons successfully removed two thirds of the 60mm tumour.

For the surgery, she remained in a coma, and didn't show any signs of consciousness for three months.

But at the end of January, Emma started to show cyclical consciousness and was then transferred to Northwick Park rehab unit, where she's been recovering for three months.

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Unfortunately, however, limited NHS facilities will see her moved to a low-intensity rehab centre.

A reduction in rehabilitation therapy will slow her progress, and Weeks is concerned about the impact this could have on her recovery time.

He has started a GoFundMe page to try to raise funding for private treatment, which he hopes will help get Taylor talking and walking again, and back to their daughter.

"The operation was successful but she's been left with some long-term impediments," Weeks, who has been in a relationship with Taylor for two and a half years, explains.

"From where the tumour burst, she is pretty much blind in her right eye, and the movement on her left side is expected be limited to about 75%.

"She's at the stage where she can communicate with head movements and her hands, we've even had a few tears," he continues.

"Although NHS staff have been amazing, due to a lack of beds, she will be moved into a lower intensity rehab programme, which I fear will impact her progress.

"I'm trying to get the money together so she can get the best treatment."

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Weeks says he believes his partner is starting to feel frustrated about her recovery.

"She's trapped in her own body and I know all that she wants is to come home to her baby," he says.

"She can't talk yet, but she can communicate with her hands and head movements – she's showed she's determined to get better for our daughter.

"Any donations would mean the world to us."

Donate to Scott's fundraiser at: GoFundMe.com.

Additional reporting SWNS.