A newborn baby was rushed to intensive care after becoming unresponsive at home.
Harry Shrubb was four days old when he was taken to Wigan Royal Albert Infirmary where his parents Sarah, 35, and Dominique, 39, were told his body was shutting down. Dominique said: "We were told if we had arrived minutes later, they would not have been able to keep him alive."
It took five hours to stabilise Harry who was then transferred to Alder Hey Children's Hospital on January 28, 2021, where doctors discovered he had a heart condition.
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Dominique said: "When Harry became unresponsive at home and we rushed him to A&E we were so scared and then it was shock for the next two weeks. It just didn’t seem real and as first time parents, to go from having a newborn we were scared to look after anyway, to having a child with medical complications was terrifying.
"But you have to just be strong for him, he was fighting for his life and weren’t going to give up on him."
Harry was found to have hypoplastic aortic arch – a heart defect in which part of your baby's aortic arch is too narrow, making it harder for blood to flow to the body.
The newborn underwent heart surgery for eight hours to replace the narrow section in his heart. Dominique said: "Harry’s operation was a success and thanks to the skill and expertise of the team Harry made it through. It was explained to us that Harry’s recovery would take a long time and it may be a bumpy road. Alder Hey provided us with a counsellor to support us through this extremally difficult time and to help us process what had happened."
Harry was soon transferred to the cardiac recovery ward where his family were given another scare when his heart rate rocketed to 240 beats per minute. Doctors discovered he also had supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) – a heart condition featuring episodes of an abnormally fast heart rate.
Dominique said: "Whilst on ward 1c we were taught how to care for Harry and what warning signs we needed to look out for should Harry become seriously unwell again.
"The thought of coming home terrified us both after what had happened last time we were there. Sarah was recovering from an emergency C-section and because of Harry’s health had not been able to recover.
"Harry needed to be cared for 24/7 we took it in turns to look after him and sleep. Sarah’s auntie was a paediatric sister and helped massively in reassuring us and helping us care for Harry. Without her we are not sure how we would have got through the first couple of weeks."
Fast forward to today, Harry's parents said you never tell what he had been through "unless you saw the scar on his chest." The two-year-old still undergoes regular scans to monitor his heart repair and is set to undergo a series of tests next week.
Harry's friends and family now want to give back to the hospitals that helped to save his life. They will be taking part in a charity event from June 19-24, including a 100 mile walk around the Lake District including all the major mountains and paddling a dragon boat down the length of Windermere.
Dominque said: "Two years later we are so so proud of Harry he really is our heart warrior. We are forever grateful to all the staff (heroes) and organisations who saved Harry’s life."
All money raised will be donated to the Children's A&E department in Wigan, as well as Alder Hey Children's Hospital and Ronald McDonald House. To donate to the Gofundme page click here.
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