Charlie Douthwaite, from the United Kingdom, is the smallest baby who has received a transplant in the European Union with just eight weeks. He was born with a congenital heart disease known as hypoplastic left heart syndrome, characterized by insufficient growth of the structures on the left side of the heart, including ventricle, aorta and aortic valves, making it impossible for him to survive.
His heart was failing every time and the parents feared not having an organ in time for the transplant, but fortunately They received the best Christmas gift you can expect: a new heart for Charlie.
A rare heart defect
Congenital heart diseases are those heart diseases that are present from birth and constitute the birth defect with the highest incidence in Spain.
Charlie's malformation was detected during pregnancy on the morphological ultrasound of week 20 in which the main organs and especially the functioning of the heart are thoroughly checked. Despite the severity of the diagnosis they decided not to abort and continue with the pregnancy. His mother, Tracie, 30, says we chose not to, we decided to continue and fight for him. "
Three days after he was born, Charlie had to undergo surgery and with just seven days he suffered a cardiac arrest. His mother desperately shared the story on Facebook asking for a heart to save your baby's life, even knowing how difficult it can be for parents who lose their baby. His request went viral (it was shared almost a hundred thousand times) and fortunately there was a happy ending.
Towards the end of last week Charlie received the heart of a baby who lost his life at almost the same age as him, becoming in the smallest baby ever before transplanted in the European Union.
The intervention lasted nine hours and there is still a long way to go, that there is no rejection or complications arising from the operation, but the most complicated part has been overcome. The baby's heart that is gone is still beating in Charlie's chest giving you a new opportunity to live.
