Six-year-old boy who suffered multiple strokes during heart surgery and faced never being able to walk or talk again beats the odds – and takes his first steps since the operation
- Reggie Aslin born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, so he has half a heart
- Youngster, from Grimsby, had open heart surgery to try and prolong his life
- He smiled and giggled once again, and even kicked balls and played basketball
A boy with only half a heart who faced never being able to walk or talk again has taken his first steps since undergoing a traumatic operation.
Reggie Aslin, who is now six, was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, meaning he only has half a heart due to complications with his blood flow.
The youngster, from Grimsby, recently underwent open heart surgery to try and prolong his life as much as possible.
Tragically, he suffered multiple strokes on both sides and on the back of his brain, leaving his mother Michelle and father Lee unsure if he would see, walk or even talk again.
But just week after Reggie’s strokes, he started to show signs that he was getting better.
Reggie Aslin, who is now six, was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, meaning he only has half a heart due to complications with his blood flow
The youngster, from Grimsby, recently underwent open heart surgery to try and prolong his life as much as possible
Tragically, he suffered multiple strokes on both sides and on the back of his brain, leaving his mum Michelle and Dad Lee unsure if he would see, walk or even talk again
Despite recovering from a major heart surgery and the complications, he began to smile and giggle once again.
Reggie has now started to kick balls and play basketball – using his Grimsby Town football heroes as inspiration.
Posting on social media, Michelle said: ‘After open heart surgery, Reggie suffered multiple mini strokes (ischemic stroke).
‘We were told Reggie may not walk, won’t have any sight, and we have lost the boy we had before.
’28 days later, we have our boy back and he will get there. Reggie will show what he can do.’
Michelle and Lee found out Reggie had hypoplastic left heart syndrome at their 20 week scan, deciding to go ahead with the pregnancy.
The devastating news followed six years of the couple trying for a baby.
Doctors said Reggie had just a 50 per cent chance of survival and would need three major operations on his heart and was unlikely to survive beyond his teenage years.
Despite recovering from a major heart surgery and the complications, he began to smile and giggle once again. Little Reggie has now started to kick balls and play basketball – using his Grimsby Town football heroes as inspiration
Mum Michelle and Dad Lee found out Reggie had hypoplastic left heart syndrome at their 20 week scan, deciding to go ahead with the pregnancy. The devastating news followed six years of the couple trying for a baby. Pictured: Reggie as a baby
Mother Michelle Aslin gives Reggie a hug as they prepared to leave hospital for the first time
Doctors said Reggie had just a 50 per cent chance of survival and would need three major operations on his heart and was unlikely to survive beyond his teenage years
But the brave couple decided against an abortion and he was born by on September 1, weighing 9lbs 12oz.
Just 20 per cent with the condition make it to five years old – and he had his first operation at just 10 hours old.
Michelle continued: ‘We didn’t want to play God and wanted him to have the chance to fight it as best he could.
‘Because we knew what was going to happen it was really hard to enjoy those first few moments with him, but now we make sure to enjoy every second we have.’
At just four days old, Reggie underwent open-heart surgery to ‘re-plumb’ his heart – a gruelling, nine-hour operation that left him with a huge scar down his chest.
The couple spent six weeks at Leeds Royal Infirmary before they were given the go-ahead to bring Reggie home.
At four days old, he had the first stage of the Norwood procedure, a high risk, three-step surgery which gets the right side of the heart to do the job of the left side.
It ‘rewires’ the right ventricle to pump red blood to the body, while the blue blood is allowed to flow directly to the lungs.
WHAT IS HYPOPLASTIC LEFT HEART SYNDROME?
Hypoplastic left heart syndrome is a condition in which the left lower pumping chamber of the heart (left ventricle) does not develop properly.
In children with the condition, the valve between the left ventricle and the upper left filling chamber (left atrium) if often closed or small.
The main blood vessel that carried blood from the heart to the rest of the body is also smaller than usual.
This means the heart is unable to pump blood effectively around the body.
Most babies with the condition appear healthy immediately after birth but quickly become breathless if not treated.
Most are diagnosed before birth.
It is not possible to cure the condition but most children can have a reasonable quality of life if they have successful surgery to manage it.
Only about 60 per cent of patients survive all three of the required operations.
For those who do, life expectancy is in the teens.
Source: Great Ormond Street Hospital and the British Heart Foundation
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