Sunderland family seek support for severely autistic daughter Elaina who needs 24 hour supervision
“Elaina has no sense of danger and because of this she needs 24 hour daily supervision”
A Sunderland family are appealing for help to provide their non verbal autistic daughter Elaina Brett, 9, who also suffers from serious seizures, with the suitable environment and home facilities to keep her safe and allow her to flourish.
At the age of four, Elaina was diagnosed with severe autism, a learning disability, and sensory processing disorder.
To add to the family’s challenges, the little girl was also recently diagnosed with epilepsy after suffering several serious seizures. Up until May (2025) Elaina had never shown any signs of being epileptic, but that all changed when her mother, Nicola, awoke one night to find her daughter “absent and unresponsive”.
Her parents explained: “The paramedics arrived within 10 minutes and rushed her to Sunderland Royal Hospital. Elaina suffered four more seizures that night, the longest lasting an agonising 17 minutes. Because she was struggling to breathe, doctors had to place her on a ventilator while she was unconscious.”
Doctors had hoped it was a one off event, until Elaina suffered a second seizure in October (2025) where she was once again rushed to hospital and placed on a ventilator.
Her parents said: “This time, Elaina wouldn’t wake up at Sunderland Royal, and she was urgently transferred to the Newcastle RVI Intensive Care Unit. Thankfully, she stabilised after a few hours of intense monitoring and was eventually transferred back to Sunderland to recover. Following further testing, she was officially diagnosed with epilepsy.”
Elaina’s severe autism and epilepsy have left her family facing a daily struggle to best manage her challenges. Because Elaina has no sense of danger, she will frequently bang her head and punch furniture, walls, and herself during “meltdown” episodes born out of frustration.
Her parents added: “Elaina takes levetiracetam twice daily to control her seizures, and we have to carry pre-loaded rescue medicine syringes with us everywhere we go.
“Elaina has regular, violent meltdowns from communication frustration, along with sensory issues that come with living in a busy urban area.
“Our current environment is unsustainable. We cannot take her on normal days out due to her severe anxiety and changes to her daily routine. Elaina has no sense of danger and because of this she needs 24 hour daily supervision.
“The physical, financial, and emotional toll on our family has been life-changing.”
To best mange Elaina’s welfare, they are hoping to raise an initial £5,000 to cover the initial rent to move a more rural location, as well as a further £5,000 to invest in communication facilities and a specialist bed and padding.
Her parents said: “£5,000 would be used to fund a custom-made, high-sided padded specialist safety bed designed for children with autism and epilepsy to prevent night time injuries, along with specialised impact-padding for her bedroom walls and doors so she cannot self-harm during a meltdown.
“£1,000 would be used for a drop-proof tablet, a lifetime license for premium speech-generating software, and personalized physical choice cards to help reduce Elaina’s frustration-led meltdowns.”
You can support Elaina’s cause by donating to her parents, Nicola and Lee’s GoFundMe page.