Miracle baby survives Covid and heart op
ABABY given a ‘remote’ chance of survival after being diagnosed with a rare heart defect - while suffering from coronavirus - is back at home following life-saving surgery.
Raees Hassain, from Rochdale, was rushed into hospital at just six-weeksold.
He was diagnosed with a rare case of transposition of the great arteries. His family was dealt another devastating blow when he tested positive for COVID-19.
The combination of issues meant the chances of Raees pulling through were low.
But five weeks later, he’s recovering at home.
“Raees has been through so much and come out stronger for it, he is a real soldier,” mum Farah said. “Doctors say there is no reason he can’t do anything he wants to. He can climb mountains, be a racer, whatever he wants. “He has a life now.” At just six-weeks-old, Raees was taken to Royal Oldham Hospital with a chest recession - a sign he was having breathing problems.
After he was transferred to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Merseyside, medics discovered his two main heart arteries were the wrong way around.
His aorta was connected to the right ventricle, instead of the left; while his pulmonary artery was connected to the left, instead of the right.
Oxygen-poor blood was being sent to the body, instead of the lungs; while oxygen-rich blood was returning to the lungs, instead of the body.
Test results then revealed Raees had contracted coronavirus.
Farah couldn’t even touch her son without wearing full PPE.
She said: “It was a life or death situation. Even the doctors said the odds were against us.
“I was completely shocked and numb. It was so unexpected. Our whole world was turned upside down.”
Cardiac specialists at Alder Hey had seen very few cases of transposition of the great arteries like Raees’.
Most babies wouldn’t have survived six weeks in his condition.
A septostomy was performed that day to improve oxygen circulation. Surgery to correct Raees’ arteries couldn’t be done while he was weak from coronavirus.
He was put on a heart lung bypass machine to keep him alive as he battled the virus.
Nine days into his stay at Alder Hey, Raees beat COVID-19, meaning the complex, high-risk surgery could be done. There was a 50 per cent chance Raees wouldn’t survive the procedure.
It was an agonising six hours for mum Farah and dad Aqeel.
Farah said: “We had no choice really.
“If he doesn’t have this operation, he is going to die. If we do go through with it, at least he has got a chance. And that’s all we wanted.
“We just prayed and prayed all day for a successful operation.
“It was such a daunting experience having to wait
“He has been through so much and come out stronger”
that long. Each second felt like 100 years.” The procedure was a success.
Now, five weeks after first being rushed to hospital - and a fortnight after the operation - Raees is back at home and getting to know his big brother, three-year-old Ayaan.
Mum Farah added: “I am so thankful to everyone at Alder Hey.
“They have all been there all the way, even when I couldn’t be there.
“They have done such an amazing job.”