Our story -

Travis was born at the countess of Chester hospital on 14th December 2024. When Travis was born, he didn’t take a feed, he didn't cry and he was blue. We were told that this could have been because he came into the world so fast.

At around 4 hours old, the student midwife did his observations and found that his oxygen level was at 71%, then Travis was placed into a different incubator whilst they supplied him with oxygen. Within 5 minutes, Travis was being taken down to NICU.

Travis did not improve and was being transferred to Alder Hey. It took around 6 hours to insert a central line through his belly button and get him into a specialised incubator for travel in the ambulance.

At 8am on 15/12 we were blue lighted to Alder Hey. Once we arrived, me and si were placed in a side room whilst we waited for 3 hours for Travis to undergo multiple tests and be set up onto the PICU.

He was hooked up to machines, had tubes and wires everywhere and it’s a vision we will never forget.

We were taken to a separate room to be told Travis had TGA which is a rare, life-threatening congenital heart defect where the aorta and pulmonary artery are switched in position. And we were told he would need the surgery within the next 2/3 weeks.

At 3 days old, we were told ‘he is scheduled for surgery tomorrow’ and went to sign the consent forms. A moment we will never forget. To be told without the surgery he won’t survive and if he does have the surgery there is also a chance he won’t make it.

At 4 days old, we kissed our little baby as he was wheeled away for surgery at 8.30am. He was supposed to be up from surgery at 3pm. He didn’t come up until 5pm.

Once they had opened Travis’ chest, they found that his veins were nearly twice as long as normal, and the switch was made harder due to his veins being so deep they had to remove the muscles. We were told that his veins are 2mm wide and with just a 0.05mm kink, the surgery would not be successful. We were told by the surgeons that Travis’ case was ‘one in a million’.

Once he was up from surgery, we were told the next 24 hours were crucial and his chest remained open for 2 days incase they needed to operate again, which highly increased the risk of infection.

Whilst already having dec and Harry at home, we couldn’t have got through it without the amazing support network of our friends and family. We spent Christmas at Alder Hey and they made it as good as can be for us all.

He hit some bumps in the road on recovery. We were trained on how to tube feed Travis as he would not take a bottle. There were times where he was tested for sepsis due to high temperatures and more.

Fast forward a few weeks and we had been sent home, our little boy made it. And we went back for a weekly check to be told his hemoglobin levels were very low and he needed to stay in for another blood transfusion.

We couldn’t have faulted the incredible teams at Alder Hey. From the Ambulance support team who transferred him, the staff on PICU, the one to one nurses Travis had 24 hours a day, the volunteers, the surgeons, just everyone. We are forever in the debt of Alder Hey for saving our baby’s life and being incredible.

Travis will continue to be under the care of Alder Hey and will have and ECG and ECHO scan every 3/4 months and he will be tested until he is 18 years old.

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