A four year old girl is fighting for her life after contracting a rare brain condition sparked by the flu. In November, little Sienna Dunion started complaining that she was feeling colder than usual. Her parents, Gary Dunion and Angelina Dunion, 38, initially thought she wasn't being serious, but decided to keep her off school the next day due to a mild fever.

However, the situation took a heartbreaking turn when Gary found his daughter unresponsive a few days later, leading to an urgent hospital dash. Doctors had to place Sienna in an induced coma as her eyes rolled back and she lost the ability to communicate.

The 41 year old father was left shocked when an MRI scan disclosed that Sienna had Acute Necrotising Encephalitis (ANE), a highly uncommon brain condition. Medics attributed this to the flu, which has been straining the NHS is recent weeks due to high numbers of people being infected.

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On 22 November, Sienna underwent emergency surgery after doctors detected alarmingly high lactate levels, necessitating the removal of 60 percent of her intestines to save her life.

The father-of-two is haunted by the fear that he may never again hear his daughter's "infectious belly laugh", as it remains uncertain when she will regain consciousness or whether she'll be able to walk, talk or eat again.

To help cover the extensive future treatment and care costs for his daughter, the distraught dad has set up a GoFundMe page.

Gary admits they're grappling with remorse over their decision not to have Sienna immunised against flu. The recruitment boss is now determined to raise vital awareness about the devastating condition and implores other parents to ensure their children receive flu jabs.

Gary, from Corby, Northamptonshire, said: "It's been horrendous and I can't comprehend how a really funny, caring healthy four-year-old three weeks ago goes to this and potentially may never recover. She's got the most infectious belly laugh that we may never hear again."

Gary had taken Sienna out on her scooter but realised something was amiss when she managed just five minutes before complaining of feeling frozen.

He kept her home from school on Monday due to a raised temperature, but by Wednesday the situation became dire.

Gary said: "On Wednesday morning I took our eldest to school and I got back at 9am and my wife said 'something's not right with Sienna, she's not conscious or answering any questions'."

Following their frantic dash to hospital, medics placed her on a fluid drip before spotting her fingers had begun clawing, prompting them to arrange a CT scan which revealed several abnormalities in her brain.

She was placed into an induced coma after losing the ability to communicate and was moved to another hospital where physicians diagnosed her with ANE.

Gary said: "It's just a complete shock. I'd never heard of that before in my life. They said it's a very, very rare but aggressive brain condition triggered either by the flu or COVID-19.

"It creates a response in the immune system where the immune system does not recognise the danger and the virus keeps on attaching itself to the brain and it doesn't fix itself or try to fight it and then attaches itself to the spine.

"There were no signs of the flu. The fact she was a bit rundown with a bit of a temperature but she was still running around and playing and being funny until she went asleep on that Tuesday afternoon and then she woke up completely different which is mind boggling.

"We thought it was a common cold she's had a thousand times. We treated it with Calpol and Nurofen. It's honestly insane.

"Now reality has set in. It just feels so unfair on Sienna, who's the most beautiful girl. We don't understand why this has happened. There's no rhyme or reason when she's one of a handful of people globally who's ever had this.

"There's so much determination from me now. She's been fighting from hell so it's my turn now to stand up for her."

Sienna started plasma exchange treatment - a procedure to cleanse the blood - but required urgent surgery when medics found dangerously elevated lactate levels in her system.

Doctors found that 60% of her bowel was irreparably damaged and had to be surgically removed, followed by a second operation after air built up in her stomach cavity.

Medical experts now estimate it could take anywhere from three to six months before Sienna - who remains unconscious - can leave hospital, after which she'll require extensive rehabilitation. Gary revealed: "They told us this is going to be a very long road and when Sienna wakes up she will not be the Sienna we know. She might walk again but she might not. She might have permanent disabilities for life."

The devoted father hopes his fundraising efforts will help cover his daughter's ongoing treatment and secure her a place at a specialist neurorehabilitation centre, which comes with a hefty price tag of around £8,000 per week.

He's now determined to raise crucial awareness about the devastating rare condition to help other families, and is urging parents to ensure their children receive the flu vaccination - something Sienna hadn't had.

Gary explained: "For me it's raising awareness around ANE and what it is. No one is immune from it even though it's absolutely very rare.

"There needs to be some serious medical studies around what the factors are that trigger it. Beyond that, what's the treatment and the early interventions, what's the recovery from this and what's the prognosis. It's so much guess work.

"We didn't give her the flu jab and the biggest message for me to parents is to vaccinate your children with the flu. It doesn't eradicate you from getting this but we didn't give her it because we'd heard some pretty horrendous stories.

"There's been a lot of trepidation around the COVID vaccination and people are quite wary about what they're putting into their children and I think that's impacted certainly us.

"The guilt from us is like 'my god, should we have just vaccinated her'. So many parents out there just aren't doing it because they are unsure what they're going to do or if they are really going to need it."

He added: "Raising awareness and funds giving her the best chance is my way of trying to do something for her."

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