Mackay mother Samantha Campbell reveals baby Georgie’s battle with rare heart defect for HeartKids’ Sweetheart Day
When an expectant mother headed into Mackay hospital to give birth, she had no idea of the gut-wrenching news she was about to receive, and the incredible fight for life their precious baby was about to begin.
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When her one-day-old baby was taken away and flown to intensive care, a Mackay region mum felt like the rug had been pulled out from underneath her.
On giving birth to daughter at Mackay Base Hospital on March 11, 2022, Samantha Campbell could never have expected her precious baby would be born with a rare congenital heart disease.
Now she, her husband Gene, and the couple’s five-year-old son Hugh prepare to celebrate the first birthday of the little girl who almost didn’t survive a condition that claims four little lives a week.
The Richmond Hills family is telling the story of little Georgie’s plight to raise awareness of the dangers. and to support HeartKids’ Sweethearts Day fundraiser on Valentine’s Day on Tuesday.
“We weren’t sure what was wrong with her to start with,” Mrs Campbell said.
“(Then on) her second day of life, she was (on) an Angel Flight with my husband to Townsville University Hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit.
“I wasn’t allowed to fly with them because I’d had a C-section.
“We were feeling robbed … I know it’s a horrible way to look at it, but we felt robbed of that precious moments of having our child on our chest.”
When Ms Campbell joined her newborn and husband in Townsville the next night, nurses broke the news.
Georgie had a rare congenital heart disease known as total anomalous pulmonary venous drainage, requiring open-heart surgery or “she would die”.
“To think we might lose her, it’s just earth-shattering”, Ms Campbell said.
“In our minds, birth is this natural, beautiful thing.
“Georgie is actually an IVF baby, so we’d already fought tooth and nail to have her.
“That was the worst point … getting there and realising my baby is not okay.”
It took eight weeks of frighteningly frequent hospital visits for Georgie to grow into a healthy weight for surgery, when the family flew down to Queensland Children’s Hospital in Brisbane.
Ms Campbell said they had finally taken baby photos as a family a week before surgery, saying tearfully they needed those photos “because we didn’t know if we’re bringing her home”.
Thankfully, the surgery was a success with Georgie now a bubbly little girl soon to celebrate her first birthday.
Yet her parents haven’t forgotten being blindsided by the news, and want to raise awareness and support the fundraising efforts of charity HeartKids.
“We didn’t know anything about congenital heart disease until Georgie had it”, she said.
“It’s the single biggest cause of death in children under the age of one, and it shocks me so much that we weren’t aware of this.
“HeartKids Mackay makes you feel less alone (and) gives you perspective.
“I want Georgie to see other children who have the same scar that she’s got.”
Buy a card for Sweethearts Day to support children with congenital heart disease and their families.
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