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Battling baby who has suffered five cardiac arrests keeps on fighting

Ten month-old Lennox Smith and mum Laura (Paul Vicente / The Sunday Post)
Ten month-old Lennox Smith and mum Laura (Paul Vicente / The Sunday Post)

IT’S the look of love.

Adoring mum Laura Knight gazes into the eyes of her laughing 10-month-old son Lennox, a little fighter who’s going strong despite suffering an incredible five cardiac arrests in his short life.

The gurgling bundle of love was born with a serious cardiac defect, leaving the left side of his heart severely underdeveloped.

But Laura, 21, says Lennox emerges smiling each time he suffers a setback.

“He has won battles which would have floored most adults. “He’s my inspirational little fighter.”

The doting mum-of-three, who named the tot after partner Jordan’s boxing hero Lennox Lewis, added: “He’s aptly named. He’s been in intensive care his all life but, despite everything, he’s relentlessly cheery and the light of our lives.”

Ten month-old Lennox Smith is watched over by his family (Paul Vicente / The Sunday Post)
Ten month-old Lennox Smith is watched over by his family (Paul Vicente)

The couple were first told little Lennox had heart abnormalities during Laura’s routine 20-week scan in pregnancy.

“We were overjoyed at being told I was expecting our third boy.

“We were so excited at having another boy that we didn’t notice the amount of time the specialist spent looking at his heart.

“It hit us when they called for someone else to take a look and it was then confirmed that the left side of his heart was really small.

“We felt crushed that there could be something wrong with our baby after having two healthy boys already.

“Surely a baby who leapt about the womb kicking and moving couldn’t be unhealthy.”

Laura and Jordan’s early pictures of Lennox are filled with love – but also drips, tubes and medical equipment
Laura and Jordan’s early pictures of Lennox are filled with love – but also drips, tubes and medical equipment

An appointment with the fetal medicine specialist a week later revealed that Lennox had hypoplastic left heart syndrome.

It’s a birth defect that affects normal blood flow through the heart.

As the baby develops during pregnancy, the left side of the heart does not form correctly.

The defect was so serious the couple were offered an abortion as their baby boy’s outlook was so bleak.

“The word abortion stood out to me the most and I can remember as soon as it was said, Jordan and I gave a firm ‘no’,” said Laura.

“I knew I could never fix his heart but I know how much love we can give and I knew we would be by his side through thick or thin.”

Laura’s pregnancy continued under the heavily monitored guidance of her obstetricians.

Lennox was born on September 1 last year, weighing a healthy 7lb 3oz at Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary.

“He was so beautiful but blue which was to be expected with his faulty heart.

“I got to have a few precious seconds with him before he had to be taken away by the team of specialists who were waiting by my bed.”

Laura and Lennox
Laura and Lennox

But within minutes Lennox developed the feared complications and wasn’t able to breath on his own.

Two hours later he was transferred to the children’s heart specialist unit at the Freeman Hospital three miles away.

Exhausted after childbirth, Laura made her way to see her newborn son.

“I waddled to intensive care where he was, not feeling any pain but just desperate to see my baby,” she said.

“Jordan and I looked straight past the many tubes and monitories surrounding our boy.

“All we could see was this perfect baby who was going to break my heart a million times.

“We soon met his surgeon and learned that we could put all our trust in him and the team.”

He was only three days old when he was wheeled into theatre for his first major surgery.

“I looked at his little chest and knew it would never look like that again.

“He would soon bear the scars of heart surgery, vital as they were to his survival.

“We gave him a big kiss and told him how much we loved him and that he had to come back to us.

“The next time we saw him, eight hours later, he was covered in a sea of wires and tubes.

“In the centre of his chest was a ‘window’ and we watched his heart pump through it. It was a sight you can never erase or un-see.”

(Paul Vicente)
(Paul Vicente)

Lennox soon hit complications and had to go back to theatre when a lung collapsed.

He was then put on a machine which took over from his heart, lungs and kidneys to give his body the best chance of recovery.

At 12 days old he suffered his first cardiac arrest.

His little body was too small to be shocked back by a defibrillator and nurses restarted his heart with gentle pushes on his chest with their fingers.

“We watched, willing him to live again and could have cried for joy when he his little heart started beating,” Laura said.

Over the next few months Lennox was plunged into the nightmare of four more cardiac arrests.

The next one was at Christmas as the young family made preparations to celebrate in the confines of the intensive care ward.

Again the medical staff managed to resuscitate him.

In January his little heart stopped twice again.

The most recent was when Laura was helping a physio carry out treatment.

“He went blue and I had to relive the sight of doctors struggling to save my baby boy,” she said.

“Jordan and I are always asked if we want to leave when the cardiac team work to save Lennox.

“But I could never leave his side when he needs me most.

“We want him to know that we will be with him always.

“I never take my eyes off the monitors, willing them to show signs of life.”

The whole family are now praying he will be well enough to be allowed to return to the family home in Trimdon, Co Durham, with brothers Riley James, three, and Cole, two, to celebrate  his first birthday.

Dad Jordan, 21, a telecommunications engineer, says: “He may only be a baby but Lennox has taught us so much about life.

“He has written his own book of survival.”

Flat will help keep family bond strong

THE tot’s parents are desperate to keep their family together during their months of anxiety.

The Sick Children’s Trust has stepped in to give them a family flat just minutes from Lennox’s intensive care unit at the Freeman Hospital.

“We’re doing everything possible to make life as normal for our lovely boys,” said Laura.

“Riley James and Cole attend the hospital nursery while I stay with Lennox.

“This way all our boys get the attention they deserve from us.

“When they are not at nursery the boys are together during visits to the intensive care unit.

“They adore him and it’s a joy to see them play.”

The Sick Children’s Trust was founded by two paediatricians, Dr Jon Pritchard and Professor James Malpas.

Lennox may need donor heart

AROUND 60% of patients with hypoplastic left heart syndrome fail to survive the surgery needed to save them.

For those who do, life expectancy is in the teens unless a donor heart is found allowing for a lifesaving transplant to be carried out.

Baby Lennox’s progress has delighted both his parents and the medical team at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle.

Laura says: “If love could save my baby boy he would be in the peak of health now.

“Sadly, his outlook is uncertain and we have to accept his situation.

“But being a parent means that you promise to love and care for your children no matter how big their problems are.

“When Lennox smiles all his problems disappear.”

 

Lennox’s family are being supported by The Sick Children’s Trust who are available to contact on 02072834854 or via their website http://sickchildrenstrust.org

 


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