The awesome team at Enterprise Mobility all got behind their colleague Francesca this February to celebrate Wear Red Day.
Francesca’s son Luca was born with congenital heart defects and needed life-saving open heart surgery at just one week old.
Francesca said:
“We found out that something wasn’t quite right when we attended our 12 week scan.
“After an appointment with the fetal medicine and congenital cardiology teams at LGI, we were told that our baby had a ventricular septal defect and coarctation of the aorta and would need open heart surgery shortly after birth.
“When Luca was born, he was taken straight to the neonatal ward at Leeds Children’s Hospital where he was put on medication and monitored closely. He was there diagnosed with a Hypoplastic aortic arch, multiple VSDs and atrial septal defects. At one week old, Luca underwent open heart surgery.
“After eight agonising hours, we received a phone call to say that the surgery had gone well, they had managed to close Luca’s chest. This was amazing news as we were told to plan for it still being open and him needing a second surgery to close it after the swelling of his heart had gone down.
“We were also informed to prepare ourselves to see him for the first time, as he was still on a ventilator and connected to multiple machines. I just remember seeing him and being so grateful that he was still alive.
“Luca spent the following 10 days on PICU, where he had ups and downs.
“He was extubated 2 days post-surgery but was struggling to breath on his own, so he was put on a BiPap machine to help.
What is a BiPap mechine? If you have trouble breathing, a BiPap machine can help push air into your lungs.
“He then moved to the high dependency unit for two nights and finally onto the children’s cardiac ward (L51) where we were able to sleep by his side for the first time since he was born.
“Our little heart warrior also had to have a keyhole procedure in November 2024. He is such a happy boy and thriving, we cannot thank the staff at the Leeds Congenital Heart Unit and CHSF enough for saving our boy!”
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