Heartwarming photographs depict the moment a baby boy woke from a 5-day coma despite doctors fearing the day might never come.
The baby’s parents, Stuart and Emma Labuschagne, of Bristol in England, had braced themselves for the possibility that their 10-month-old son Michael might never open his eyes again. But not only did the baby wake up after five days of being unconscious, he did so with a beaming smile.
Gasping for Air
Michael was rushed to hospital on March 16, 2019, experiencing cardiac arrest. “In that moment I did not think Michael would make it through,” mom Emma, 27, later recalled.“At 14 weeks and three days old he went to bed like any other baby,” Emma added. “But at 5 a.m. he had suffered heart failure. Words cannot begin to describe the pain we felt in that moment.
“We watched our baby breathless, gasping for air while his heart stopped and paramedics worked to save his life. I am so, so blessed to be here telling you that he survived. He survived an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest which only seven percent of patients do.”
Michael was oxygen-deprived for nine minutes and subsequently placed in an induced coma in an effort to save his life. He woke up five days after his first admission when doctors reduced his sedative drugs; he opened his eyes and smiled directly at his father, Stuart, 28, to the amazement of the gathered crowd around his hospital bed.
Michael’s parents were warned that their baby may have suffered brain damage. Mercifully, a brain scan revealed that this hadn’t happened.
“He Is Fighting This”
Fibromas are often associated with an irregular or quickened heart rate; in Michael’s case, the cardiac fibroma had caused his pulse to race dangerously fast, inducing cardiac arrest.The baby boy was fitted with a pacemaker after waking from his induced coma. But given his tiny size, the pacemaker caused problems of its own; Michael became weakened, unable to sit or support the weight of his own head.
“It does hold him back,” Emma explained. “It’s as big as the palm of my hand and it has sharp edges. Putting that inside a baby is quite uncomfortable for them. But he is amazing. You wouldn’t know looking at him that he is fighting this.”
Even with the pacemaker in place, the baby boy’s fight is far from over.
Michael’s heart will be the ideal size for the operation he needs at the age of 16 months. “My baby needs this operation to have a chance at living a normal life,” Emma explained.
A Possible Cure
“Boston Children’s Hospital, ranked the number one pediatric hospital in the world, has quoted us $147,000 which converts to approximately £116,000 for the procedure,” Emma continued, “and we will need to pay for flights and accommodation.“The cardiac surgeons at Boston are the best cardiac surgeons in the world and they have done this operation several times. They are confident that they can drastically improve, or even cure, his condition by resecting the tumor.”
Emma explained how hard it was to believe what her “lovely little baby” had to endure. “He’s a miracle,” she added.
“We never dreamt we would be in this situation in such a short space of time. We are still in shock and coming to terms with what has happened,” she wrote. “Michael is going to Boston!”
Surpassing Goals
To date, the fundraiser has far surpassed its US$147,000 goal by raising US$249,960 and counting. “We have more than enough to cover any unexpected medical care, travel, accommodation, any ongoing care, and return visits,” Emma said.“We honestly don’t know how we can thank you all,” the mom of three continued.
The family has ceased active fundraising, assuring their generous donors that any funds remaining after all of Michael’s costs have been covered will be donated to another family in a similar situation.
The Labuschagnes’ “miracle baby” has a long journey ahead of him, but he has already come so incredibly far. Perhaps best of all, he has done so with a beaming smile on his face.
