{"id":80109,"date":"2026-08-25T12:27:19","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T12:27:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/80109\/"},"modified":"2026-08-25T12:27:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T12:27:19","slug":"she-woke-up-to-vomit-mums-cpr-horror","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/80109\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018She woke up to vomit\u2019: Mum\u2019s CPR horror"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Leah Goulis put her two children to bed on a Friday night last month, it was like any other Friday.<\/p>\n

The kids came home from school, enjoyed Macca\u2019s for dinner as a special treat, and chatted to their friends on their iPads while the footy was on and everyone hung out.<\/p>\n

Once it was time for bed, Leah\u2019s daughter Madeleine (Maddie), 12, said \u201cGood night, Mum. Love you, see you in the morning,\u201d as she did every night. Tragically, these were some of the last words the year six student would say to her mother before the unthinkable happened.<\/p>\n

The next morning, on August 1, Maddie suffered a sudden brain haemorrhage and was rushed to hospital for emergency surgery. What her mum did in those moments before paramedics arrived at their Sydney home ultimately saved her daughter\u2019s life.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe went to bed fine. We told each other we would see each other in the morning,\u201d Leah, a respected news.com.au journalist, told this publication exclusively.<\/p>\n

The mum-of-two said she heard someone fussing in the hallway at about 5am the next morning. She then heard Maddie say she didn\u2019t feel well and \u201cneeded to vomit.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I quickly got up and ran to her and she was running from her bedroom to vomit. I said, \u2018it\u2019s OK I\u2019ll hold your hair back\u2019,\u201d the 44-year-old recalled.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was complaining that her head was sore \u2026 and then it looked like she fainted.\u201d<\/p>\n

At this point Leah called out to her husband, Jerry, and the couple quickly put their daughter onto her bed. It didn\u2019t take long for her mother to realise that something was very wrong, so she called triple-0.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe next minute they were telling me to do CPR (on my daughter), which I did,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Leah\u2019s quick thinking in this critical moment, and her ability to remember her essential first aid training from more than a decade ago when she became a parent, doctors later confirmed saved Maddie\u2019s precious life.<\/p>\n

From the moment paramedics rushed through the front door, the family\u2019s home was turned into a makeshift ER while they immediately began to treat Maddie.<\/p>\n

Police also arrived and kindly sat with Maddie\u2019s older brother, Christopher, who had witnessed everything and was in shock.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey had my lounge room turned completely upside down with medical equipment and surgical procedures and I thought, \u2018this is serious, it\u2019s not just a vomit and a faint, something is going on here\u2019,\u201d Leah said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I didn\u2019t know what it was until we got to the ER and doctors told us she\u2019d had a severe brain bleed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Upon arrival, Maddie went straight in for a CT scan, followed by emergency surgery.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey told us that she\u2019d had a brain bleed and that her brain had swelled up completely and they needed to drain it. That\u2019s all they said to us,\u201d Leah said from her daughter\u2019s hospital bedside, which she has barely left for 24 agonising days. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey are very honest with you when they say \u2018this is critical\u2019. And they are words that you never think you\u2019ll ever hear.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou always think, \u2018that doesn\u2019t happen to us, that doesn\u2019t happen to us.\u2019 And I remember just sitting there, thinking \u2018oh shit, this is actually happening to us\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cI keep thinking, \u2018when am I going to wake up?\u2019 It\u2019s all the cliches you think about\u2026 I\u2019m in that now, I know what it feels like. I\u2019m waiting to wake up. My dreams are in reverse. My dreams are dreaming of normal things, and then I wake up and I\u2019m in the nightmare.\u201d<\/p>\n

The adored schoolgirl, described by loved ones as \u201cfull of life\u201d, \u201cfiercely loyal\u201d and \u201ccompassionate\u201d, with a giant smile and a sparkle in her eyes that lights up every room, now faces an unimaginable battle. <\/p>\n

As it stands, Maddie is still in ICU at the Royal Children\u2019s Hospital in Randwick, with staff telling her loving parents and big brother that there is a long road ahead. Her much-loved chocolate Labrador, Claude, who she was busy training up to be a circus dog in the backyard after school, is waiting patiently by the door for her to return home.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, the beloved daughter, sister and friend to so many celebrated her 12th birthday while in the hospital. Maddie\u2019s room in the ICU has been transformed into what nurses have affectionately dubbed \u201cthe vibes room\u201d \u2013 filled with photos and letters from family and friends, balloons left over from her birthday that are still floating around, fairy lights strung from the ceiling, her favourite music on repeat. Maddie\u2019s most-played soundtrack, The Greatest Showman, especially the hit song, A Million Dreams, is being blasted daily from her room.<\/p>\n

\u201cRealistically, they can\u2019t tell us (what the future looks like) because she has to hit certain milestones. We don\u2019t really know how long we will be in here. It\u2019s a long journey and it\u2019s obvious that it will be months and months, maybe even years of rehab in front of us, and we\u2019re just determined to get her there and get her home,\u201d Leah admitted.<\/p>\n

She said their village \u2013 the school community, their close-knit family, and dear friends \u2013 have been nothing short of incredible in rallying around the family during the most difficult weeks of their lives.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re really feeling the love and we need everyone\u2019s support to get her home,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Heartbreakingly, Leah and Jerry are realistic about Maddie hitting her milestones this year. She\u2019s in her final year of primary school and her heartbroken parents know there are big moments their beautiful, smart girl is likely going to miss.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are so many milestones in year six. The final photo with her classmates \u2026 that\u2019s not going to happen for her, realistically,\u201d Leah said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHer friends are constantly asking us when is she going to come back but I just don\u2019t have an answer for them. I\u2019d love to say she will be home for graduation but realistically we just don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n

With Leah and Jerry constantly at Maddie\u2019s bedside, a family friend has set up a GoFundMe<\/a> to support the family so that they can focus on getting their girl through this.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnyone who knows Maddie knows just how full of life she is,\u201d the fundraiser reads<\/a>. \u201cShe is always the one to lighten the mood, make people laugh and bring joy wherever she goes. She has a beautiful ability to brighten every room she enters.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaddie is fiercely loyal, compassionate and always up for an adventure. She is a risk taker with a huge passion for her animals and the outdoors, and she brings so much love and energy to the people and animals around her.\u201d<\/p>\n

All funds raised via GoFundMe will go towards Maddie\u2019s recovery, ongoing medical and associated costs, helping to give Leah and Jerry\u2019s daughter the best possible chance as she begins her long road ahead.<\/p>\n

If there\u2019s one thing Leah says this horror has taught her, it\u2019s \u201cdon\u2019t hesitate to call triple 000\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cJust call them,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was so conscious of wasting resources, thinking \u2018there\u2019s someone out there that needs this more than me\u2019. But just call triple-0, that\u2019s what it\u2019s there for.\u201d<\/p>\n

Facing an uncertain future for Maddie, Leah said she and her husband just \u201cpower up\u201d each day and do what they need to do for their daughter.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously there are a lot of questions that we have, a lot of thoughts about an uncertain future of what life will look like, but we\u2019re just determined to get her home,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery day she is making a little bit of progress, it\u2019s very small baby steps but we always say to her, \u2018we\u2019re on your watch, we\u2019re not on the doctor\u2019s clock\u2019. So however long it takes for you to make the next step, we will wait.\u201d<\/p>\n

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