A 14-month-old baby recognized his father and smiled after waking from a five-day coma in the United Kingdom.
Baby Michael’s parents, Emma and Stuart Labuschagne, said they were terrified when their son stopped breathing on the morning of March 16.
He suffered from cardiac arrest and when paramedics arrived at their home, they shocked the little boy with a defibrillator and injected adrenaline into his body to stabilize his heartbeat.
Michael was rushed to the hospital where doctors put him in a medically induced coma to shield his brain from any further damage.
However, five days later he opened his eyes and grinned at his dad.
“It’s a moment I will cherish with every inch of my heart,” his mom said. “To be really honest, it’s got to be the happiest moment of my life. He is a living miracle, and we have never felt prouder of him.”
Doctors said Michael has a cardiac fibroma, which is a tumor that stops the flow of blood to the heart.
“Michael’s tumor is 5 centimeters, or about 2 inches, wide. That’s enormous compared to a baby’s tiny heart, which is about the size of their fist,” according to CBS 4.
However, no surgeon in the UK had the expertise to remove the extremely rare tumor. Therefore, Michael’s parents had to decide if they wanted to wait for a heart transplant or find a surgeon outside the country who could hopefully save their child’s life.
That is when the Labuschagne’s discovered the Cardiac Tumor Program at Boston Children’s Hospital.
“We researched the hospital and specifically the cardiac surgeons, Dr. (Pedro) del Nido and Dr. (Tal) Geva,” the boy’s mother said. “They have a 100% success rate and an exceptional reputation. From this moment we knew that we had to try and make this journey.”
She started a GoFundMe page to raise the $147,000 needed for the treatment and have so far received more than enough to pay for the surgery they hope will take place in April.
“We are completely overwhelmed with the love and support we have been shown… Thank you so much guys, from the bottom of our hearts! Nothing could have ever prepared us for this incredible response,” his mother wrote in an update on the fundraising page.