Baby girl Jessica, who underwent open heart surgery at just 30 minutes old, has been allowed home to celebrate her first Christmas.
Five-month-old Jessica Muse is believed to be the youngest person ever to undergo open heart surgery after she had the procedure half an hour after birth.
Jessica has spent her whole life in hospital, but yesterday she left the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle for the first time with her delighted parents Claire and Dom, so they can enjoy the festive season at home.
Jessica was born with hypoplastic left-heart syndrome, meaning she essentially had half a heart – as the left side was severely underdeveloped and did not work.
The life-threatening condition was detected during Claire’s 20-week scan and doctors also discovered she had an ‘intact septum’ meaning the top two chambers of her heart were fully closed.
Without surgery, Jessica would not survive after birth.
When she was born weighing 7lbs 5oz on July 16 this year, Claire, 31, and husband Dom, 29, a process operator at a factory, only managed a quick glimpse of their daughter before she was whisked away for surgery.
Dr Asif Hasan performed the delicate operation on Jessica, whose heart was the size of a walnut, in an open heart procedure known as an atrial septostomy.
The top two chambers of her tiny heart were cut open and the op helped her survive long enough to have another seven-hour long open heart procedure at ten days old.
At one point, her parents, of West Allotment, Newcastle, were told their daughter’s chances of survival were ‘very small’ and feared she might not make it.
But after nine operations in total, including the two open heart surgeries, Jessica is battling back and is getting used to life at home.