A baby named Vanellope Hope Wilkins, has survived what is considered a first in the UK, an extremely rare disease in which the heart develops outside the body.
Vanellope Hope Wilkins was supposed to be born on Christmas Eve, but that
was not to mention the rare condition she suffered that led doctors to
prematurely deliver her by Caesarean section on November 22 at Glenfield
Hospital in Leicester.
A rare disease with very low chances of survival:
During a nine-week scan, it was discovered that Vanellope Hope Wilkins was
suffering from the disease "ectopia cordis", from which her heart and part of
her stomach was developing outside her body.
Her parents, Naomi Findlay and Dean Wilkins of Bulwell, Nottinghamshire,
said that the first scans prompted doctors to inform them that "termination"
was the only option to save the baby. Even worse, the experts, including the
consulting cardiologist, said they did not know of any cases in the UK where a
baby survived such a condition.
Speaking of when she discovered the disease, Naomi, a mother of two, said,
"I burst into tears. When we did the research, we simply could not contain
ourselves, because the disease was accompanied by so many problems.
A miraculous baby:
With the premature birth of the baby by caesarean section, fifty doctors were
waiting and gave him the first moments of his life, his very first operation to
insert a tube and breathing cords into his heart. All in just 50 minutes.
Explaining what it was after the birth, the mother said, "I started to panic, I felt
physically sick because I really thought there was a great possibility that I
could not see her, to hear or something even worse. But when she came into
the world crying, the relief immediately followed.
A few days later, his chest was opened to make room for the heart, which was
replaced in his chest due to the severity over the next two weeks. A third
operation was used to insert a mesh to protect it, covering the area with skin
under his arms.
Dean and Naomi named the baby "Vanelope", just like a character in the Disney movie Wreck-It Ralph. Naomi Mom said: "Vanellope in the movie is so stubborn and she turns into a princess at the end, it was so appropriate. "
Frances Bu'Lock, the consultant pediatric cardiologist at Glenfield Hospital, said she described the baby's chances of survival as "minimal". She said, "I had seen one in the fetal life about 20 years ago but this pregnancy is not going to term."