A BRITISH toddler is fighting for his life after suffering three cardiac arrests as his desperate parents fight to bring him home.
Baby Matthew, one, is stranded in Hong Kong after travelling to meet his family for the first time alongside his mum Sophia and grandma.
The little boy, from Nottinghamshire, was flown over when he was just nine months old when he was suddenly struck by a bout of influenza A.
His condition rapidly deteriorated and he suffered three cardiac arrests during which his brain was deprived of oxygen for 47 minutes.
His mum Sophia said: “What was meant to be a joyful family trip turned into a complete nightmare.”
Matthew is critically ill and remains ventilated, although his condition is currently stable.
The tot celebrated his first birthday in hospital while his dad and other family members were still in the UK.
Doctors have cleared him for travel home if he is accompanied by costly medical equipment and a specialist paediatric team.
The one-way journey could cost as much as £200,000 with loved ones coming together to appeal for help from the public.
Sophia said: “We would never normally ask for help like this.”
The mum said the family has been plunged into “a situation we could never have imagined” and said “we simply cannot make this happen on our own”.
She added: “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.”
The family had travel but it did not include the cost of repatriation.
Due to Matthew’s delicate condition – which mandates that he must be connected to a ventilator – he cannot travel on regular airlines.
The toddler’s transfer may be made possible with help from the air ambulance charity Lia’s Wings .
raised from the fundraiser will go towards co-ordinating Matthew’s journey back home.
If the transfer cannot take place, the funds will be used to help other seriously ill children and families requiring urgent medical air transfers.
Sophia 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.”
