Yorkshire mother claims GPs failed to notice baby had cyst size of a 'tennis ball' growing in her head

Ella Dean, 28, felt she'd been "let down" by doctors who said her daughter Ada Millard would be "fine" when she developed a "wandering eye" at just 12 weeks old. And when the tot later exhibited a raft of worrying mobility issues, she claims her surgery said she would have to wait "eight weeks" for a phone appointment.

The mother-of-two, from York, said specialists had now diagnosed the seven-month-old baby with a very large arachnoid cyst growing in her brain only after she finally took her to A&E. And the rare mass has tragically left the tot visually impaired, suffering from seizures and with lifelong brain damage. She now faces an extremely risky operation to rid her of the growth, and Ella believes her outcomes would have been different if it had been spotted months earlier.

She said: "If this was intervened sooner, she wouldn't have started having seizures, her eyesight wouldn't have been as damaged, and her brain wouldn't be as damaged. The problem we've got is the cyst is actively growing. So the more growth it's done, the more damage is being caused. I do feel let personally let down by the GP. I feel if he wasn't 100 per cent, it should have been sent to somebody else who was an expert in the area.

"if they have a concern, really, they should be referred to someone who specialises in certain departments."

Barmaid Ella said Ada was born June 26 last year following a "perfect pregnancy" but had "severely bloodshot" pupils, which seemed usual. Later, a health visitor told Ella and her partner, Drew Millard, 28, to book a check-up with a doctor after noticing Ada had developed a "wandering eye". But the new mother claimed a GP at Priory Medical, which has several surgeries across the city York, gave her baby the all-clear after inspecting her vision.

She said: "I saw the GP at the mum and baby check-up you get at 12 weeks, and he shined a light in her eye. She did respond to light, but we didn't know about her eye condition at this point, and he was like, "Yeah, she's fine. By the time she got to four months old, I started to have growing concerns.

"She wasn't giving any direct eye contact, she wasn't following objects, she wasn't reaching out to grab things, she wasn't able to lift her head up properly. I'd rang the GP and tried to get another appointment, but I was told it would be eight weeks for a telephone call. She was due her third lot of immunisations, so I took her to the GP to get her jabs done.

"While I was there, I basically said to the nurse, 'Can you please have a look at my baby and tell me what you think because I'm certain she's not right, and I don't know what to do.'"

Ella said the nurse took her concerns seriously and brought a doctor to see her baby who then said she'd recommended her for a referral to a specialist. But by this point, Ella felt she had waited long enough for assistance and decided to take Ada to the A&E at York hospital with her partner Drew on December 9 last year.

Over the next two days, doctors examined Ada's eyesight and put her through various scans, before she was transferred to Leeds General Infirmary (LGI) in an ambulance. And following extensive tests, neurosurgeons broke the shock news to her teaful parents that their daughter had a rare cyst that was growing in her brain.

Ella said: "We saw the neurosurgeons there, and they say she needs to go for an MRI scan, but they said, 'from the CT scan, we believe she has a large arachnoid cyst in her brain.' Basically, it's a build-up of spinal fluid. This cyst develops within the womb, and the baby is born with it, and that explains why she had bloodshot eyes at the delivery.

"It's just kept growing and growing, and it's put pressure and moved the rest of her head and her brain. So her brain is all shifted to one side and the cyst has kept growing. In December, it was around 6cm in diameter - the size of a tennis ball."

Ella said Eva has since suffered seizures and doctors are now debating a risky operation to remove the cyst from her brain, which could leave her paralysed.

The mum added: "It's horrible I've had to see her suffer. But she is a very happy baby, even through this, she's always been smiling. She's got a cheeky sense of humour, and she's very audible. She listens to everything."

Ella and Drew are now raising money to help with their finances. Click here to donate.

Priory Medical has been contacted for comment.