The nine-year-old girl who suffered serious head injuries at her home in north Dublin last week is on the road to recovery, according to her father.

The schoolgirl from Rush was taken to hospital last Tuesday after being found unconscious in her bathroom.

She had sustained serious injuries as the result of “an incident”, with one line of investigation being whether the child had slipped on a pool of water and hit her head on the bathroom sink.

Since the tragedy, her parents have kept a bedside vigil for their daughter in Temple Street Children’s Hospital following fears for her life. It was reported that the nine-year-old was in a serious condition upon arrival.

Doctors feared that the schoolgirl may have suffered brain damage.

However, Independent.ie can now reveal that she has responded well to treatment and is now breathing by herself.

Blink

“She’s getting better by the day,” said her father yesterday.

“On Monday, she was able to move on her own, and today her eyes began to blink for the first time. They even took away her breathing machine because she is now capable of breathing by herself.

“However, she’s now using it again as they don’t want her to get too tired.

“They’ve also increased her drug dose because they want her to relax and not get upset,” he added.

A week after the incident, gardai are probing all lines of enquiry, including whether the nine-year-old had been assaulted.

Officers were called to the apartment in Sandy Road, Rush, at 10.20pm on July 2 and carried out a full forensic examination as the girl was being treated for “very serious injuries”.

Emergency services rushed to the property after the girl was found in the bathroom by a family member.

The girl’s father accompanied her in the ambulance following the incident.

She was transferred to Temple Street Hospital and gardai were notified about the incident by ambulance personnel.

Sensitive

The parents of the girl are now visiting their daughter every day, while gardai continue to investigate the circumstances of the “extremely sensitive case”.

It is understood the family have five children.

Their neighbours have revealed that they are still in shock over last week’s incident.

“I haven’t been sleeping well at all since it happened,” said one local mother.

“I keep thinking of how something so unfair could happen to such a young, innocent girl.

“She always seemed like a very happy child whenever she was out playing or walking to school.

“I’m trying to do whatever I can for the family, but there’s only so much you can do when they’re going through so much.

“I’m so happy to hear that the girl is responding well to treatment and I’m praying to God for a miracle,” she added.

Other neighbours of the family told Independent.ie that they knew something serious had happened at the home when the emergency services arrived in the seaside town.

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