Gabriela beating the odds to live a ‘happy’ life in face of illness
THE mum of a toddler with a rare heart condition who was predicted to have a five per cent chance of survival beyond the age of five has praised her ‘happy, smiling’ daughter.
Skelmersdale mum Evita Bolmane, 30, was left devastated when doctors said her unborn child had a rare defect known as Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome in April 2020, and said she only had a five per cent chance of living beyond the age of five. The condition means that her child, Gabriela, who is 21 months old, has an underdeveloped left hand side of her heart.
Evita, and husband Zigmunds Bolmanis, 29, were told when Evita was 24 weeks pregnant that they faced a choice of either terminating her pregnancy, letting their baby be born and pass away, or allowing her to be born and face gruelling surgery to survive.
She said: “I just broke down, I couldn’t even talk. I was scared; your world just comes crashing down and there’s nothing you can do; all you can do is hope.”
Undeterred, the couple, originally from Latvia, chose to continue, and Gabriela was transferred to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital three hours after her birth and underwent her first open heart surgery at just six days old.
This ordeal was followed by a second gruelling operation which saw her almost passing away in December 2020 when she was just five months old, and a third operation at nine months old to have a stent fitted in her artery.
Evita, also mum to Gabriela’s two older brothers, Raivis, 10, and Oskars, eight, said: “In December 2020, she had a CT scan which showed how her oxygen levels were dropping, and they had to rush her up to put her heart on oxygen support.
“She had emergency surgery lasting ten hours on December 29, and started bleeding profusely.
“The surgeons at Alder Hey were amazing; they just did what they could, and it lasted ten hours. Thankfully, she pulled through.”
Gabriela is ‘amazing,’ according to mum Evita and dad Zigmunds, who works in the Great Bear warehouse in Skelmersdale. Evita said: “Because of her low oxygen levels, when she crawls, she gets out of breath and her lips, hands and cheeks turn blue.
“And there are lots of side effects from the medication; she has long, beautiful hair but she is losing it all the time because of the medication, but she is literally amazing; she never stops smiling, she always laughs, and she knows every single person around here.
“The only place she never smiles is in the hospital, possibly because she remembers everything that has kept happening there, but when we go to playgroups and shops, she is smiling and she loves giving hugs and sending kisses.”
Highlighting the seriousness of Gabriela’s condition, Evita said it was the most serious heart defect that there is.
She added: “It’s horrible - it’s just a horrible condition and there’s nothing you can do. We just have to take it day by day, but you never know. Some days I sit down and cry, as our world can come crashing down in one single day.”
The next steps will see Gabriela, who is on medication and palliative care for life, returning to Alder Hey in June for monitoring and scans, along with visits from a community nurse, and the third part of her three stage surgery will take place when she turns three next year.
“We have lots of support from family and friends and charities like Tiny Tickers, Little Hearts Matter and the British Heart Foundation.
“Gabriela keeps enjoying everything because she knows how life is difficult and how short it can be. We are so incredibly grateful to this country, and to the staff in the hospitals and the NHS, as they did everything to keep us happy and settled.
“We didn’t know anything about CHD(Congenital heart defects) until we found out about Gaby’s and it’s important for us to spread awareness.
“These babies are miracles and true warriors; like we always say about Gabriela - she has half a heart, not half a life.”
The family are set to take part in a 3km charity walk, ‘Oli’s Safari Walk’ to raise money for Alder Hey Children’s Charity which starts at 10am at Knowsley Safari Park on May 15.