WA girl has ‘catastrophic brain injury’ after shock from garden tap

THE 11-year-old girl who was left with a catastrophic brain injury after suffering a severe electric shock is now breathing on her own without a respirator.

AN 11-YEAR-OLD Perth girl who was left with a catastrophic brain injury after suffering a severe electric shock at her family’s public housing property is now breathing on her own without a respirator.

Her devastated mother Lacey Harrison wept uncontrollably as she revealed her daughter had suffered a catastrophic brain injury on Friday.

She told reporters that her daughter may not survive after receiving an electric shock from a garden tap at the family’s public housing property in Perth.

However, Denishar Woods’ official condition status has changed from critical but stable to serious but stable, reflecting her ability to breathe on her own.

She remains at Princess Margaret Hospital after being shocked by up to 230 volts AC when she touched the tap at the Beldon property on Saturday last week.

Ms Harrison told reporters outside hospital on Friday that if her daughter does survive she will be in a vegetative state.

“Denishar suffered a catastrophic brain injury, which won’t bring her back to me ever,” she said.

“Once they pull the tubes out she’s got to see if she can breathe, but that’s as much as her life represents anymore.”

Denishar Woods suffered an electric shock after using a garden tap. Picture: 9 News

Denishar will be temporarily taken off life support to see how she reacts and Ms Harrison says she still believes in a miracle.

“I want to believe that she’s going to fight the odds of the medical expertise,” she said.

“I want to sit by her bedside and I won’t leave her, but it’s going to be scary and as the doctor said, it’s going to be very ugly.”

Ms Harrison said doctors predict “she won’t make it”.

“I like to believe she will, I need to believe,” she said.

Lawyers have said Denishar’s family may be eligible for a multimillion-dollar compensation claim.

The state government has offered short-term motel accommodation to the family, but they have instead been staying with relatives.

Housing Minister Peter Tinley told reporters Ms Harrison had also been offered a five-bedroom house.

“But as you can imagine at the moment, she is not in a particularly good space to make decisions like that,” he said.

Her mother said she wants her baby back. Picture: 9 News

Mr Tinley would not comment on the ongoing Energy Safety investigation, which is technically complex, but said he wanted to assure Ms Harrison “we will get to the bottom of it”.

“It would be premature for me to speculate about any of those outcomes,” he said.

Mr Tinley declined to comment on Ms Harrison’s previous claim that after she felt a mild electric shock and contacted the Housing Department’s emergency line, they failed to tell her not to touch anything.

A GoFundMe crowd-funding campaign has so far raised more than $6600 for Denishar’s family.

— With AAP