Piper Wakley, 5, suffers stroke just after her preschool graduation

Just 40 minutes after her preschool graduation on December 18, little Piper Wakley began throwing up, lost her ability to speak and fell unconscious. Her life will never be the same.

Piper Wakley suffered a stroke on December 18 just after her preschool graduation.

Just 40 minutes after her preschool graduation on December 18, little Piper Wakley began throwing up, lost her ability to speak and fell unconscious.

Her mum Tayla Wakley knew something was wrong – but wasn’t prepared for the diagnosis that followed.

Her little girl had suffered a stroke and a brain bleed at just five-years-old and was rushed from Albury to Monash Children’s in Melbourne.

Within hours of her graduation, the bubbly little girl was put in an induced coma – and doctors weren’t sure whether she would survive.

Piper in hospital.

“The pediatrician told us to prepare to say our goodbyes,” Ms Wakley said.

“They weren’t confident that she was going to make it through the night.”

But 12 days later, little fighter Piper is breathing on her own. Her parents have finally heard her say a couple of words, and on Friday morning, she gave her first smile in almost two weeks.

“Rare and interesting are two words you never want to hear in the medical field and they are both being thrown around about her,” Ms Wakley said.

Piper with her mum Tayla on her graduation day.

“She has a team of 20-plus, neurologists and neurosurgeons and every single one of them is surprised by how well she’s doing.

“She’s always been a headstrong little girl and that strength is definitely showing now.”

While Piper was excited to start primary school in just a month’s time, kindergarten will be put on hold for now.

She is just one of an estimated 600 children who suffer a stroke in Australia every year – and currently does not have the ability to speak, walk, or use most of the right side of her body.

But while she’s overcome the first big hurdle, the next step is finding out what caused the stroke.

“It’s going to be a very long road of trying to figure out why this happened so that it doesn’t happen again,” Ms Wakley said.

“We know that she’s going to have years of therapy and rehab and tests and investigations, but at the end of the day, she’s doing better than any specialist thought she would.

“So we’re holding on to that.”

While the last two weeks have been a whirlwind of emotion for Piper’s family, Christmas was particularly difficult, given it’s Piper’s favourite day of the year.

Santa still paid her a special visit in hospital – and mum and dad promised Christmas would come as soon as she could leave the hospital.

Doctors are surprised at how well Piper is doing, although she has a long road ahead.

“Her eyes just lit up when she saw Santa,” Ms Wakley said.

“It was the first time we’d seen that from her since this all happened so it was really special.”

Being hours from home, Ms Wakley has been blown away by the support being shown for her brave little girl, with thousands of dollars already raised to assist with her future – including rehab, modifications that may be needed at her family home, and to support her parents.

“The support has allowed us to just be there for our girl and focus our every fibre on doing what we need to for her,” Ms Wakley said.

To help Piper and her family, visit: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-support-piper-and-her-family

Originally published as Piper Wakley, 5, suffers stroke just after her preschool graduation