‘Miracle baby’ recovering after life-saving surgery

A NINE month old ‘miracle’ baby boy is recovering well after he underwent life-saving heart surgery.

Riley Patterson from Aughnacloy underwent the operation at Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) in Crumlin to repair a hole in his heart.

Riley’s mother Victoria was just 28 weeks pregnant when he was born prematurely last June, and weighed just 1lb 12 ounces.

Since then, Riley has spent six months of his life in hospital, and staff at NHS hospitals in Craigavon and Belfast have played a crucial role in keeping Riley alive since he was born.

Unfortunately, Riley’s condition began to deteriorate and he was placed on the urgent list for heart surgery as doctors feared that he was going into heart failure.

In a cross border arrangement, the medical help of the surgical team at Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) in Crumlin was sought when Riley needed the operation.

The team acted fast and Riley and his parents travelled to Dublin for his second life saving operation, and he underwent the major operation on Monday.

Riley’s parents, Victoria and John told RTE news they were worried Riley might not be able to receive the care he needed because of the Covid-19 pandemic and were so relieved when the surgery went ahead.

Victoria described Riley as a ‘rascal’ and said, “When the team opened him up, Riley surprised us as he had an extra hole in the heart in need of repair.

“They were able to thankfully close the two holes and so far it has been a success. He is now out of intensive care.”

Riley’s Father John said his son was one of the smallest babies, and was so tiny when he was born that his wedding ring could slip onto his leg.

Riley’s has been moved out of intensive care, and is recovering at the Dublin hospital. It is hoped that he may be transferred to Belfast in the near future.

Riley’s parents are now hoping to fundraise for premature baby charity, TinyLife.

As Northern Ireland’s only premature and vulnerable baby charity, TinyLife are dedicated to reducing illness, disability and death in babies born here and providing support for families who have been affected by such circumstances.