“Everyone was absolutely incredible supporting us through every hurdle – there certainly were a lot!
“There is no way we would’ve gotten through it without the Children’s Heart Surgery Fund team.”
Mum Katie, from Bridlington, said:
“When Vincent was 9 days old, we were admitted to Scarborough hospital as he was extremely jaundiced.
“Upon doing his admission the nurses discovered his oxygen levels sat around 60-70.
“Within minutes the room was flooded with doctors trying to figure out why.
“He had a heart scan within the hour, and the doctors told us the left side of his heart was small and that blood wasn’t being pumped around his body properly.
“We were then transferred into the special baby unit and sent to Leeds that night, arriving around 3am.
“By 7am we were taken aside and they told us that Vincent had obstructed TAPVD and a hole in the centre of his heart. The lack of oxygen to his liver was causing his jaundice, and they had to operate urgently.
“On the lead up to his surgery they explained that they would need two specialist heart surgeons as Vincent’s case was quite difficult. They’d need to place him on bypass and actually take his heart out of his chest and flip it over to perform the surgery.
“As soon as we saw Vincent after surgery was complete, he was like a brand new baby – oxygen levels at 99, no longer yellow and purple and seemed to be doing incredibly.
“We did have a few complications. He began having apnoea’s, seizures and SVTs which were only resolved with medication. Due to this they did an urgent scan and found some damage to his brain.
“Everyone was absolutely incredible supporting us through every hurdle – there certainly were a lot!
“There is no way we would’ve gotten through it without the Children’s Heart Surgery Fund team. Anything we needed they did their absolute best to help, even if it was just a chat.
“Fast forward to now you would never ever know what this boy has been through. He is the happiest and most incredible boy. Hitting all of his milestones and proving nothing can knock him down!
“We will forever be grateful for every single person who helped us on Vincent’s heart journey.”
Wear red in Feb for the thousands of children in our region like Vincent!
Sign up to take part in Wear Red Day this February to raise vital awareness of congenital heart disease, and life-saving funds for CHSF!
Donate online to our Wear Red Day 2026 JustGiving page
Donate by text: Text CHSFWRD (plus any amount up to 20) to 70085
(e.g. To give £5 text: CHSFWRD 5 to 70085)
Spread the word: Tell your friends, family, school or business all about our campaign – and how easy it is to sign up! Thank you.
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