Twin baby boys could spend Christmas together thanks to heart transplant

Desperately ill Roman Williams had surgery to have his new heart fitted last week.

Now the boys’ parents can’t wait to get Roman home so he can be with 10-month-old twin, Hunter.

“We would dearly love to have Roman home with Hunter for Christmas,” said mum Zoe.

“It’s a huge hope but having us all together around Roman’s bed on Christmas Day as he recovers will make our happiness complete.”

She prayed for a donor to become available – and now that her bitter-sweet Christmas wish has been granted, she hopes Roman will soon be back to his giggling best.

“Each morning I hoped this would be the day our baby boy would be saved by a heart transplant,” said beautician Zoe.

“When the doctors told us a donor heart from a baby had become available we were overjoyed, scared and emotional.

“We knew our brave boy had to endure it to survive. It was his only chance. We knew he had to do it.”

So far, Roman has never been home. He’s spent all of his short, but eventful, life amid the beeping, sterile paraphernalia of a hospital ward.

In total he’s endured 15 operations at the hands of a dedicated medical team.

For Zoe and dad Craig, 32, it’s meant Newcastle’s Freeman Hospital has become their home-from-home.

But, with Roman’s first Christmas looming, the couple can face the future with hope in their hearts.

They’d love to be able to spend the holiday as a family at home in Fishburn, County Durham.

But wherever they open their presents, they know they’ve already received the most precious gift they’re ever likely to receive.

Zoe, 25, is so thankful to the donor family whose loss has helped save Roman’s life.

“We don’t know them but we are hugely grateful for their kindness,” she said. “If they are reading this then I hope they see how much they have given us.”

Roman’s congenital heart condition was diagnosed when Zoe was 20 weeks pregnant. Doctors call it pulmonary atresia with intact septum.

Zoe said she knew “something was wrong” by the look on the face of the NHS worker carrying out her baby scan.

“But back then I had no idea he wouldn’t be allowed to leave hospital until he got a transplant,” she said. “That only emerged when he was three months old.”

Dad Craig has been a tower of strength keeping it together for Zoe and their baby boys through their darkest days.

“No one really knows the huge struggle parents of dangerously ill babies experience, not until you are pitched into that awful situation,” he said.

“It is not an option to cry or be upset because something inside wills you to take it all in your stride.

“There are times when you just want to weep but instead you take each day as it comes.”

The family have been hugely helped by the Sick Children’s Trust. The charity offers accommodation to families miles from home while their dangerously ill infants undergo hospital treatment.

The couple stayed at the charity’s Scott House.

Scott House manager Andrew Leadbitter said: “We can’t put into words just how delighted we are that Roman’s been given the gift of life.

“Through it all we were happy to help Roman’s mam, dad and his twin Hunter, by helping to keep them by Roman’s bedside.”