Leo Allan Myers has open-heart surgery 12 hours after birth
A baby boy had to undergo five hours of open heart surgery just 12 hours after being born with little Leo almost dying on the road crossing to the maternity ward. See his incredible fight for life.
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An Imbil family has put a call for help out through a GoFundMe after their newborn son had open-heart surgery within a day of his birth; a birth nobody was certain he or his mum would survive.
Despite this ordeal, Samantha Peake (mum) and her partner David Myers (dad) are optimistic about little Leo’s future.
“We weren't sure if we would be taking home a baby or not,” Ms Peake reflected on her pregnancy, unsure how to tell her six other children about their new brother.
Leo Allan Myers was born on September 3, 2023 with total anomalous pulmonary venous drainage (TAPVD), a congenital heart disease where the veins that are supposed to carry blood back to the heart from the lungs are connected to a vein which drains into the right side of the heart, rather than the left atrium.
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“You could see his little heart beat as they left his heart open for two days before going back into surgery to close it,” Ms Peake said.
In Australia, it is estimated 2400 children are born each year with congenital heart disease, of which TAPVC accounts for around 2 per cent.
Leo’s condition was picked up 20 weeks into Ms Peake’s pregnancy by a sonographer at Gympie Hospital and because of this doctors were able to make lifesaving preparations for his birth.
Since a month before her due date, Ms Peake stayed close to the Mater Hospital in Brisbane as doctors predicted not only would Leo need surgery, but his birth would be complicated.
When she went into labour she started bleeding, and both she and Leo almost died just crossing the road to the maternity ward, Mr Myers said.
“I almost lost her and the baby,” he said.
Within five minutes of Leo’s birth he had multiple tubes in him keeping him alive, Mr Myers said.
After a harrowing morning of birth and the night before the surgery, doctors gave Leo to Ms Peake to hold in case he didn’t make it through the risky nine-hour open heart surgery.
The phone call came only five hours after the surgery started, and we had prepared for the worst news, only to find out Leo had made it through, Mr Myers said.
“It is going better than expected,” he said.
“I’m just glad it’s one step closer to going home,” Ms Peake said.
Leo is the first child of Mr Myers and Ms Peake, who met three years ago and first dated online during the pandemic in 2020.
A year later, Ms Peake and her six children moved up to live with Mr Myers, who runs an excavator business in Imbil and on the Sunshine Coast.
It will still be a few weeks until they will be able to bring Leo home to meet his six brothers and sisters, who are being looked after by Mr Myers’ parents.
They said they are hopeful and grateful for Leo and his future, however uncertain that was.
“It’s easier to bring a baby than a placenta back home – less paperwork,” they joked.
After spending five days in the Intensive Care Unit at the Mater, little Leo was transferred to a Special Observations ward, a good sign for the little battler and his loving family.
To assist in support for travel expenses while Leo is in hospital and for medical equipment when he is at home, you can give to their GoFundMe.
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