Heart hero so brave as he lives with condition
YOU would never guess that Noah Morgan has a heart condition.
The one-year old, from Maesteg, is as energetic as any other little boy his age, but sadly, Noah’s heart condition means he will always different.
Noah was born with a condition called Tetralogy of Fallot, which means he was born with four heart defects which cause the oxygen-poor blood to be pumped to the body through the hole in the wall between the right and left ventricle instead of being pumped to the lungs.
Noah’s mum, Bethan, found out about Noah’s condition after she was referred for foetal monitoring scans when the sonographer couldn’t get a good look at Noah’s heart at the 20 week scan.
Bethan said: “I remember just looking at the lady when she found his heart and I could tell something was up. I looked at the screen myself and I knew we weren’t alright.
“The lady looked and me and dad and said, it looks like baby’s got something wrong with his heart.
“We got referred to Cardiff foetal medicine where they picked up the Tetralogy of Fallot through the scans, and from then on we had loads of scans because he was also measuring small, and they also found out he has a horseshoe kidney.”
Noah was born on June 26 and he was initially doing well, Bethan recalls him breathing really well on his own. But Noah was transferred to the NICU after not feeding properly.
He had his first surgery at the University Hospital of Wales at a just a few days old.
“Noah was in hospital until he was six weeks old. But after that, he was doing really really well. But then at six months he went blue.
“He cried and cried, continuously, I’d never seen him like that. When he had a blue spell we had to scrunch his legs to get him back.
“We got rushed in to Bridgend hospital in an ambulance where they put him on medication to slow his heart rate and he got referred for his second surgery, his first open heart surgery at six and a half months old.
“Noah is our second child, the pregnancy I had with our daughter, Summer, was completely normal. So to have all this with Noah, it’s been really crazy.
“This all happened during Covid too, so it was hard because I had no one to come with me to the scans and operations. It was so hard to deal with. Like I lost so much weight I was just so unwell with anxiety and depression. I wouldn’t wish anyone to go through it.”
Noah’s heart was fully repaired by the surgeons at Bristol Hospital, but Bethan says this isn’t the end for Noah.
“Noah will always have a heart condition. Whilst we are lucky that we have been able to fully repair his heart now, we don’t know what he will need in the future.
“His last check-up was fine, and we have another coming up next month, so fingers crossed everything is still fine. But he will need check-ups for a long time.
“Noah is the most happiest little human, he’s made our lives so complete, he’s our little hero.
“His energy is wild and we love seeing him so active like every toddler, he will fight heart disease.
“His sister, Summer, adores him. She found it difficult being away from me Noah and dad when having his surgery. We have told Summer about Noah’s condition. She says he’s so brave, and she says he’s got a special heart. Their bond is amazing.”
Bethan added: “We think he’s going to be into football already, he knows exactly how to dribble and kick a ball. Nothing is stopping him.”
Bethan is now doing a skydive to raise money for a charity that she says has been so important to her, Heart Heroes.
“It’s my first skydive and I’m properly scared. But I’m sure nothing more scarier than having your child be poorly and having surgery. Nothing’s gonna scare me. Like, that was the worst if it could ever get. Like, so I think I’m going to be okay.
“Heart Heroes have offered me so much help and support, and they put me in touch with other families who were going through what we were. I honestly can’t thank them enough.”
Bethan is skydiving from Swansea Airfield on March 26, and if you would like to donate to her GoFundMe you can do so at https://www.gofundme.com/f/ skydive-saturday-26th-march.