GABRIELLA Taylor was last night discharged from Southampton General Hospital after a mysterious illness forced her out of Junior Wimbledon and into intensive last week.

The budding Southampton tennis star is now at home recovering, but her parents say she is still "disorientated and not herself," writes Nazrin Wilkinson.

Gabriella retired from her Junior Wimbledon quarter-final last Thursday after her symptoms of sore throat and temperature worsened.

Later that evening, at home in Southampton, a doctor was called out as the player's condition deteriorated.

She was admitted as an emergency case into the isolation room of the intensive care unit at the University of Southampton General Hospital where medics battled to save the 18-year-old from severe liver and kidney problems.

Gabi's parents, Milena and Paul Taylor, told of their shock and devastation at finding their daughter go from being in the middle of a career-high match at Wimbledon to getting round-the-clock attention in intensive care.

"Gabriella became so unwell rapidly after leaving the match that we had to go to Accident and Emergency," they said.

"We could see she was going downhill fast. She went from being completely healthy and fit to the complete opposite.

"We have been to hell and back and are left numb now because it just hit us that we came so dangerously close to losing our beautiful girl.

"After leaving Wimbledon she had an extremely high temperature, had developed a rash all over her body, had a severe headache, suffered blurred vision, had so many ulcers in her mouth and her throat was so swollen that she couldn’t take anything in orally.

"Gabriella also lost the feeling in her right hand and fingers and is now still disorientated."

The infectious disease team have carried out numerous tests but the cause of illness is still undiagnosed to date. Further tests have been carried out and the family await results.

It will be a slow recovery for the young player who dreamed of winning a Wimbledon Junior title.

Her parents would like to thank all the staff at Southampton General Hospital for their care and compassion over the last four days.

"They were wonderful and kept us informed of any changes and updates," they said.