1-Year-Old UK Baby Coming to America for Life-Changing Surgery After Story Goes Viral
A 1-year-old United Kingdom boy is getting the life-changing surgery he needs after his heartbreaking story went viral.
Emma and Stuart Labuschagne, as well as their son, Michael, will be traveling to the United States this March so doctors can remove a tumor in his heart.
Michael’s parents were shocked when their healthy child suddenly suffered from heart failure when he was only 14 weeks old.
“Words cannot begin to describe the pain we felt [at] that moment,” Emma wrote in a GoFundMe campaign.
“We watched our baby breathless, gasping for air while his heart stopped and paramedics worked to save his life.”
According to a Facebook video sharing little Michael’s story, doctors put him into a medically induced coma for five days and told Emma and Stuart that their son, if he woke up at all, wouldn’t “be the same baby.”
When he woke up, however, the first thing he did was smile at his dad.
He had no signs of brain damage.
Doctors diagnosed little Michael with a cardiac fibroma in the left chamber of his heart, which Emma said is extremely rare in the U.K.
As they began to seek potential treatment options for their son, they realized they wouldn’t be able to get the best possible care in their home country.
Thankfully, Boston Children’s Hospital told the desperate family that they would be able to perform surgery to remove the tumor, but the cost would be high — about $150,000.
So the family set up a crowdfunding campaign and began sharing their son’s story in hopes that people would help.
Michael’s story quickly went viral, and kindhearted souls from helped the Labuschagne family exceed their goal.
According to an update on the GoFundMe campaign, Micheal and his family will be travelling to the United States next March so he can receive the life-changing surgery.
“He will have a week of appointments for scans and testing, then the major operation to remove the tumour should happen on the 12th March. Almost a year to the day since his heart stopped!” Emma wrote.
“This is best time for the procedure in terms of his size and recovery.”
Emma said she and her family are incredibly thankful for everyone who donated and made the trip possible.
“This Christmas could have been so different for us,” she wrote, “and we will be forever grateful that we have this time with our family.”
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