Mansfield mum’s desperate plea to help bring critically ill baby home from Hong Kong

Little Matthew Lee was just nine months old when he travelled to Hong Kong with his mum, Sophia, and grandmother for what should have been a happy family holiday, meeting relatives for the first time.

But everything changed when Matthew became seriously ill with influenza A. His condition deteriorated rapidly, resulting in three devastating cardiac arrests and his brain being deprived of oxygen for 47 minutes.

Now, having spent his first birthday in hospital, Matthew remains critically ill, thousands of miles away from his dad and the rest of his family in Mansfield.

His family desperately wants him home, where he can be reunited with his loved ones and brought back to the NHS care he needs. Due to his serious health issues a private aircraft flight, costing around £200,000, is the most medically appropriate option to get him home safely.

Matthew’s Mum Sophia Lee said: “We would never normally ask for help like this. It is a situation we could never have imagined finding ourselves in, and we simply cannot make this happen on our own.

“Our only hope is to get Matthew back to the UK, where he belongs, so he can be reunited with his dad and receive the ongoing specialist care he needs.

“We are just a family who went away on holiday with our healthy little boy, and we desperately want to bring him home. We cannot thank everyone enough for standing with us and helping us fight to make that happen.”

The family has launched an online fundraising page with the support of Lia’s Wings, the only UK air ambulance charity that delivers life-saving services both in the UK and internationally.

Sophia, Matthew's mum, said: “We are completely overwhelmed by the kindness and support people have shown us. We are so incredibly grateful to everyone who has shared Matthew’s story, reached out and offered to help.

“We are desperate to get our little boy home. Being by Matthew’s bedside is the only place I feel I should be right now, and although every day is frightening and uncertain, being with him is what keeps me going.”

A spokesman for Lia’s Wings said: “We are currently having some positive discussions with aviation companies about the transfer back to the UK. This remains our biggest barrier to getting Matthew home.

"We launched a public fundraising appeal and everything raised from the fundraising appeal will help Lia’s Wings plan, coordinate and facilitate Matthew’s journey home, contributing towards the overall transfer and our end goal of Matthew coming home.”

Commercial airline options are limited and Lia’s Wings are yet to find an airline to accept him because Matthew is ventilated and his medical needs are so complex.

A private aircraft flight is the most medically appropriate option with the cost of a long-haul medical transfer from Hong Kong estimated at around £200,000.

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