Adelaide baby Tullah’s mercy dash from Women’s and Children’s Hospital to Melbourne for heart surgery

An Adelaide dad was told it would be a ‘miracle’ if his first child, born nine weeks early, made it through the night after developing “workers’ breath”.

Aldinga Beach parents Braden and Britt Clingeleffer with their baby Tullah. Picture: Supplied

In his short three-week life, premature Adelaide baby Tullah Clingeleffer already has stayed in three different hospitals – the latest in Melbourne where he underwent lifesaving heart surgery.

Tullah’s parents, Braden and Britt, are describing the emergency operation to fix a constricted heart artery a ‘miracle’ after their baby boy who was born nine weeks early suddenly “turned grey”.

“At two weeks he was starting to get what they called workers’ breath, he had to work very hard to breath and he got discolouration and it was setting off alarm bells,” Braden, 30, says.

“That night we were told by doctors if he makes it through the night he will be getting heart surgery as soon as possible, he was grey, it was a miracle he made it through the night.”

Tests revealed a coarctation of his aorta, meaning the body’s main blood vessel was constricted and unable to function properly.

The operation could not happen at the Adelaide Women’s and Children’s Hospital as there were no heart surgery facilities, so once Tullah was stabilised the small family flew to Melbourne for the vital surgery on Tuesday, April 14.

Aldinga Beach parents Braden and Britt Clingeleffer with their baby Tullah. Picture: Supplied

Braden says surgeons told him the operation three days later “went better than expected, especially considering his size, he was not a size they would normally operate on”.

A series of other traumatic events led to the mercy dash to Melbourne starting with the couple being told during Britt’s pregnancy that Tullah was significantly underweight and the two were being monitored at Flinders Medical Centre.

“I was travelling home to Aldinga Beach after visiting (the hospital) and at 1.20am I got a phone call saying Tullah was showing signs of distress,” Braden said.

“I walked in and a few minutes later Britt was rolled into the theatre … it was all a bit of a shock, my own heart rate was all over the place, I almost fainted twice in the theatre and had some time lying down on the floor.”

Tullah weighed only 1.08kg – the size of a bag of sugar – when he arrived in the world and his mum Britt, 33, was suffering from high blood pressure with pre-eclampsia.

Aldinga Beach parents Braden and Britt Clingeleffer are in Melbourne over the Easter weekend with their baby Tullah. Picture: Supplied

Britt was so unwell immediately after the birth that she was unable to see her baby boy – named after a small Tasmanian town where Braden grew up waterskiing – for more than a week.

Tullah Clingeleffer was born at 31 weeks and is facing serious health challenges. Picture: Supplied

It was then that the heart complications emerged and Tullah was transferred to the Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Adelaide.

Friends and family wrapped their love around the couple as the events unfolded.

Family cared for the couple’s Australian Shepherd dog Sabi and friends established a GoFundMe account.

“We’ve had church friends help out with cooking meals, borrowing a car … it’s a humbling experience, there are people we haven’t spoken to since primary school or high school sending messages,” Braden, an employment coach, said.

For now the couple who are staying at Ronald McDonald House near The Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne are focused on bonding with their baby.

“We are just taking every moment that we can to spend with him even if it’s just reading a book through his box or holding his hand,” Braden said.

“It’s a really special, unique bond because although he is plugged into machines and he’s in a critical condition he is still our precious son.”

Originally published as Adelaide baby Tullah’s mercy dash from Women’s and Children’s Hospital to Melbourne for heart surgery