FINDING HOPE IN THE HEART OF LONDON
Family’s quest to cure Dylan
The family of a Cambuslang tot will head to London this week to see if there is anything that can be done for his rare, potentially fatal, heart condition.
Little Dylan O’Cole, who turned one last week, suffers from Hypertrophic Obstructive Cardiomyophathy — which causes thickening of muscles around the heart, leaving Dylan at constant risk of cardiac arrest.
The condition is extremely rare in children of Dylan’s age, with doctors telling the family there is only a one in 100,000 chance of an infant suffering from it.
Dylan was diagnosed in February, but doctors remain stumped as to the best way forward in his treatment.
Him mum, Elaine (35), and dad David ( 34), will travel with Dylan to Great Ormond Street Hospital on Friday for a consultation with specialists.
Elaine, who works in Equis in Drumsagard, admits it will be a step into the unknown for the family, which also includes Dylan’s older brother, Taylor, a pupil Park View Primary.
She said: “Basically, the muscle around Dylan’s heart is so thick, it is crushing his heart.
“He’s on medication just now but no-one seems to know what they can do for it .You see it more often in children about eight or nine, but none of the doctors had seen it in someone as young as Dylan.
“The main risk is cardiac arrest, that is the big factor. To look at him you’d think he was a normal wee boy, but he’s living with a time bomb inside him.
“It’s hard. We just take it one day at a time. He’s crawling now but we can see him getting more and more breathless.
“We’re hoping for
the best when we go down, but we’re pretty clueless as to what to expect — we don’t know what we’re walking into.
“They’ve spoken about open heart surgery, but we just won’t know until we get down there.”
Doctors initially thought Dylan was suffering from croup, but further investigations at Yorkhill Hospital revealed the true extent of his condition.
Since then, he’s made regular trip to hospital to have his condition monitored.
According to Elaine, Dylan is just a normal boy on the outside: “Watching him, you wouldn’t know there was anything wrong.
“He can crawl but he’s also started putting his hands on the wall trying to climb up and when he gets there he doesn’t know what to do!
“That’s just normal baby stuff, but on the inside his heart is being crushed.”
Elaine, who stays with her family in Macfarlane Crescent in Halfway, is now planning to host a charity night to raise awareness of heart disease in infants and to raise money for Yorkhill Children’s Charity.
She has secured the Hazelwood Pub in Nitshill, which is owned by her sisterin-law and she has been inundated with offers of help after posting on the All About Cambuslang Facebook page.
The night, which will include a DJ as well as charity auctions and raffles, will take place on August 22.
As well as local residents, businesses like Elaine’s employer, Equi’s, Classy Chicks, Asian Tandoori, and Marion’s Flowers have all came forward to help.
She said: “The donations and offers of help we’ve had through Facebook has been unbelievable.
“We’ve got a kids garden bench, custom made and worth about £300, which we’re going to auction off.
“Last month I was up at Yorkhill and there was a baby, only three weeks old, and I’d never seen anything like it — it was so sad.
“You look at Dylan and you wouldn’t know anything was wrong, so I just wanted to do something to help.”