Youngster in amazing return after heart scare
A YOUNG girl who needed open heart surgery after grazing her knee at school has gone back to class just seven weeks after her surgery.
Abbi Holland’s medical problems began when, aged three, she fell over in the playground and scraped her knee.
That night the youngster became severely unwell, her temperature soared to 43c and she was rushed to hospital.
She spent the next four months fighting off an infection because her ‘miniscule’ cut wasn’t cleaned properly or covered with a plaster.
It caused a blood vessel in her heart to leak.
Eventually she was stabilised and moved to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool where her parents were told that one day she would need surgery to repair the damage that had been done.
Last year, scans found another leak in Abbi’s heart, and she had an operation on January 16, now aged seven.
Mum, Caz, 37, and dad, Dave, 43, were told by doctors she would be in intensive care for anything from ten days to three weeks, but after just five days Abbi was on the mend and ready to go home.
Caz said: “It was a bit of a shock. I kept asking over and over again if it was too soon, at the same time thinking ‘why am I saying this, of course we want her home!’ It’s all gone so quickly – that was only seven weeks ago and already she’s back at school full-time. “Abbi was so excited to go back, she didn’t even say bye when I dropped her off, she just wanted to get back to her friends. “We were told the recovery could be anything up to three months, and looking at her you wouldn’t even know she’d had heart surgery. “We are very cautious letting her do things, considering what has happened, but the hospital said we need to let her get on as normal, she will let us know if she is in pain or doesn’t feel well. She has another six weeks to go before she can get on her scooter that she got for Christmas and she can’t wait.” One day Abbi will need more surgery to replace the valve that has been repaired, but for now the family are hoping to try and get back to normal, with fewer hospital visits and medication. Caz and Dave have since launched a campaign to raise awareness of the importance of basic first aid to make sure no child, or adult, ends up having to go through what Abbi has been through. The family, who have four other children, are also hoping to raise money for NMGH to buy new toys for the children’s ward that cared for Abbi. To support the appeal, visit justgiving. com/crowdfunding/caroline-holland-5.