The picture that means SO MUCH
Channon Munton knew her boy was a fighter from the very first moment she met him
Looking at pictures of my smiling, bouncing boy, you’d never know he was any different to any other two-year-old. All I see is his eyes lighting up, his big grin and his chubby cheeks, and sometimes, for a moment, I forget how traumatic his entrance to the world was, and the uncertainty around his future.
It was January 2018 and I was 24 weeks pregnant when my doctor told me my unborn son had four heart defects. Busy studying to be a personal trainer, it all went on hold.
I’d known for a while there could be something wrong with my baby after scans detected abnormalities. Doctors said they thought it might be something I’d never even heard of before – a genetic disorder called 22q11.2 deletion syndrome, also known as 22q.
I needed an amniocentesis test, where a sample of amniotic fluid around my baby would be taken to check for chromosomal abnormalities. Heartbreakingly, it came back
positive. After
Mum Channon is so proud of Blake doing my own research, I learnt about the problems the condition can cause to the immune system, and a child’s life.
As a single mum, I felt overwhelmed, especially when I was told that my baby would need surgery the moment he was born, to repair his heart defects.
Blake arrived by emergency forceps in April 2018, weighing 5lb 2oz, and was whisked off to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. There was no time for cuddles, or a moment for us to bond. And when I did get to see him, covered in wires, all I could think was how tiny he was. But my intuition told me he was a fighter.
A week later, my little boy had a heart and lung bypass at Birmingham Children’s Hospital. I slept in a chair and I watched as the nurses fed and changed him, desperate to have all those first experiences myself. Over the next six weeks, Blake got stronger and stronger, and I was elated when we were
‘HIS TROUBLES WERE FAR FROM OVER’
allowed home. But the next day, he was rushed back to the hospital with bronchitis.
With 22q meaning his immune system was weakened, Blake was susceptible to infections, and it took six months before we were home for good. But, even then, Blake’s troubles were far from over. My little boy suffered from dysphagia – a condition that means he chokes and coughs in his sleep. Then, in January 2019, he started having seizures and was diagnosed with epilepsy.
Now I’m working with charities like Max Appeal UK to raise awareness about 22q. I hope I can prepare other mothers-tobe for what’s to come. Blake will always need full-time care and his future remains uncertain, but the moment I saw him,
I knew that he was a fighter – and he’s proving me right.
✱ For more information, visit maxappeal.org.uk