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Miracle update as toddler left on bus heads home

The parents of a little girl left on a hot daycare bus for six hours have taken their daughter home, just days after she was given minimal chance of survival.

In an incident that shocked the nation, three-year-old Nevaeh Austin was found unconscious and still buckled into her carseat outside Le Smileys Early Learning Centre in Central Queensland last week.

Police allege that she’d been picked up from her Gracemere home by two daycare staff at 9am on Wednesday May 4 before she was left behind on the bus.

Three-year-old Nevaeh Austin smiling in hospital (left) and with her parents (right)
Three-year-old Nevaeh Austin has made a miraculous recovery to be discharged from hospital after she was left on a hot mini-bus for six hours. Source: News Corp/Channel Nine

Despite being the only child onboard, it wasn’t until 3pm that a childcare worker made the horrifying discovery while preparing for the after school pick up.

The mini-van – in which temperatures had reached almost 30 degrees throughout the day – had been parked just metres from the centre’s front door.

Nevaeh was rushed to Rockhampton Hospital in a critical condition before she was flown to Queensland Children’s Hospital in Brisbane.

That evening she was given just a five per cent chance of survival.

It’s believed that her kidneys were failing.

But today she’s been discharged from hospital after making a miraculous recovery.

“There are no words that I can find to describe the feeling, how I felt when I saw her the first time yesterday,” her grandmother, Pam Parker, told The Courier Mail. "It was just amazing.”

Police tape surrounds Le Smileys Early Learning Centre in Gracemere while a police vehicle can be seen inside the carpark
Police investigations are continuing into how staff at Le Smileys Early Learning Centre in Gracemere forgot that little Nevaeh Austin was on the bus. Source: 7NEWS

“We are all very lucky for this miracle that Nevaeh has survived such a horrific event.”

“Beyond relief doesn’t come close to describing our emotions right now.”

While police said “it would appear that there were some breaches of policy”, no charges have yet been laid.

“Staff are cooperating with the investigation to a degree,” Police Detective Inspector Darrin Shadlow said.

Investigations are continuing while little Nevaeh today flies home with her parents.

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