Sam won’t slow with a
ELEVEN-YEAR-OLD Sam Boss has had four open-heart surgeries and recently had a pacemaker inserted but that hasn’t stopped him from starring in his own superhero adventure.
The Year 6 student from Banora Point was born with three heart defects and had a pacemaker inserted last month at the Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital in Brisbane after tests showed his heart was beating abnormally.
He’s been advised against playing contact sports to avoid damage to the pacemaker but can still go surfing, paddle boarding and snorkelling at home on the Gold Coast.
Sam’s health challenges haven’t robbed him of an active imagination.
He loves reading about Greek mythology, particularly Poseidon, the god of the sea, and has created his own super hero persona, which he’s named Colt.
His mum, Natalie, said Sam initially hated the idea of having a pacemaker inserted but they had turned a negative into a positive, incorporating the medical device into a super hero story involving Colt, the “demi-god of the sea”.
“I said to Sam: ‘This is brilliant. I’ve found your superpower. Your pacemaker will be your horsepower’,” Mrs Boss said.
“Sam has even designed his own super hero costume. One of my friends is a seamstress so we’re going to make him a super hero outfit.”
Mrs Boss was about 34 weeks pregnant when a scan revealed Sam had an enlarged heart.
He was born with an atrial septal defect – a hole in the wall that separates the two upper chambers of the heart. Sam, the school captain at Centaur Primary School, Banora Point, also had deformities in two valves on the right side of his heart – the pulmonary and tricuspid valves.
Lady Cilento heart surgeon Prem Venugopal said having all three heart conditions in one child was atypical.
Although pacemakers are sometimes inserted into babies, Dr Venugopal said they were only required in about one or two children in 100 with heart conditions.
“He’s not the youngest. We put pacing systems in children who are less than a month old,” Dr Venugopal said. But he’s certainly unusual.”
Sam had his first openheart surgery at six weeks old. Without it, his parents were told he would eventually die.
“When he was born, I have a photo of him, he actually looked quite blue,” Mrs Boss said. “It’s your new baby and you’ve got to hand him over to these people in white coats. It’s horrible.”
Despite his heart abnormalities, Mrs Boss said Sam had always been an active child.
“He’s vibrant, he’s happy go lucky and he’s always on the go,” she said.
I SAID TO SAM: ‘THIS IS BRILLIANT. I’VE FOUND YOUR SUPERPOWER. YOUR PACEMAKER WILL BE YOUR HORSEPOWER’
Dr Venugopal said Sam would need more surgery to replace his heart valves as he grew.
“Pigs’ valves have a limited lifespan and as Sam grows, he’ll probably outgrow these valves,” he said. “But he will have a very good lifestyle. He should grow to be an independent, productive member of society.”
Dr Venugopal said out-