'I thought there was no chance she would survive'

Parents celebrate first birthday of tot who needed surgery for rare heart condition

- Thomas Cooper

LITTLE Mara Radzins has packed a lot into her first year. The tot was born six weeks early via an emergency C-section on July 1, 2024, at the Royal Stoke University Hospital.

But she struggled to breathe, ended up in intensive care, was diagnosed with a rare congenital heart disease, and had open heart surgery.

Now Mara has fought through her health struggles to celebrate her first birthday.

Mum Aimee Radzins, of Berryhill, said: “When she was born she was having breathing difficulties so she had to be rushed straight up to the neonatal intensive care unit and put on support. After a while, they tried removing her from it, but she was still struggling to breathe on her own. They investigated further and found she was having a major issue with her heart - she was just nine days old.”

Doctors told Aimee that Mara had total anomalous pulmonary venous drainage, a rare congenital heart disease where the veins that carry oxygenated blood from the lungs do not connect to the heart properly.