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Hope for baby given no chance
Baby Bobby with mum Kayleigh and dad Brian
A baby which doctors said had little chance of surviving could soon be coming home after surgeons gave him a fighting chance in the womb.
Little Bobby Wilson’s parents were told that he would be stillborn due to a rare condition which was crushing his heart and lungs.
Mum Kayleigh had open foetal surgery on her 18th birthday in a bid to save her unborn son’s life – a procedure which was only given a two per cent chance of success.
After Bobby was born by emergency Caesarean section he was given less than a one per cent chance of living to six months.
And just 10 weeks ago doctors were close to switching his life support machine off.
But battling Bobby is fighting on and could be home in just four months.
Bobby suffered from a very rare condition which causes scores of small cysts to form over a baby’s heart and lungs while it is still in the womb.
If left untreated, in the most serious cases the tumours can crush the organs and the baby will be stillborn.
But now Miss Wilson, 18, of Lundy Avenue, Corby, and Bobby’s dad Brian O’Neil, 20, of Poplar Road, Corby, are optimistic for the future.
Bobby currently has round-the-clock care at Leicester Royal Infirmary and his parents visit him every day.
There is a high chance Bobby will have cerebral palsy and will be left unable to speak, but he should be able to live a relatively normal life.
Miss Wilson said: “I found out when I was 20 weeks pregnant and I was told to have an abortion or that he would be stillborn.
“But he is still here and fighting on. He has been in hospital ever since he was born. He really is a miracle baby. “Ten weeks ago they told me to turn the machine off, and said we should come and say our goodbyes. But he is still here.
“Hopefully we will have him home in four months. We travel every day to Leicester to look after him. It is very expensive when you don’t work and don’t get much help.
“He is just amazing. You don’t think when you fall pregnant that anything like this is going to happen to you. It makes you stronger.”
Professor Kypros Nicolaides, star of the BBC show Life Before Birth and a leading figure in the field of pioneering surgery on unborn children, carried out the procedure.
His fee is normally £230 per hour, but he gave his services for free as a birthday present.
Miss Wilson said: “The operation was the best birthday present ever because it saved my son’s life.
“There is a very high chance he will have cerebral palsy and he won’t be able to talk because he will have to have a tracheostomy for five years. But he is going to be able to live a normal life.”
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Sunday 27 May 2012
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