A doting dad dropped everything to come to his daughter’s aid when she fell into a coma after a birthmark burst on her brain.

Catford schoolgirl Rachel Cunningham, 12, complained of a headache when she headed into Sedgehill School in Lewisham as usual in February of this year.

But by lunchtime she had collapsed and was being rushed to Lewisham Hospital’s A&E for emergency surgery.

She was rushed to King’s College Hospital for emergency surgery after a CT scan showed that she had suffered a brain haemorrhage.

Dad Shane Rainey, 30, who lives in County Down, Northern Ireland, jumped on a plane to London as soon as he heard.

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Rachel is originally from Northern Ireland and now goes to Sedgehill School

He told News Shopper: “My mum left me a note telling me to go to the airport immediately.

“Rachel had a clot in her brain that they had to extract.

“She had complained of headaches before but there were no signs whatsoever that this was on the cards.

“It was a birthmark sitting on her brain and there was a tangle of veins and arteries on top of it.

“The birthmark just popped like a balloon.”

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Rachel was left in coma for 23 days after the operation and Mr Rainey joined Rachel’s mum Deborah Cunningham, 34, by her bedside for five nail-biting weeks in intensive care.

When she did wake up, she couldn’t walk, eat or talk and could only communicate by wiggling her toes or squeezing her parents’ hands for several weeks.

More than eight months after she collapsed, Rachel is still unable to walk and is having ongoing neuro-rehabilitation at the Children’s Trust in Tadworth but her funding is about to run out.News Shopper:

"She's feisty": Rachel has come a long way but has a tough recovery ahead of her

Despite coming a long way, she still struggles with her coordination and her speech and volume control have been affected too.

Her father has committed to staying with his daughter in England for as long as it takes, setting up a crowdfunding page to raise money for Rachel to continue getting treatment until she is fully recovered.

He said: “It is hard to know what will happen. Her recovery has been quicker than the hospital expected.

“I’m quite confident she will walk again – it’s just a matter of when.

“It could be months down the line, or even years.”

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Rachel's dad Shane flew over when she was rushed to hospital and hasn't left since

“She’s particularly feisty and has that want to improve.

“When she was at King’s, we had to correct her posturing every 30 seconds or her head would just drop, and now it’s more like every 20 minutes.

“Her willingness to push herself makes a huge difference.”

Rachel will continue her rehabilitation at the Children’s Trust until October 21.

Click here to donate to Rachel's fundraising page.