Gabriel Jacobs mirrors hope. This toddler has a fighting spirit that leaves medical personnel and his parents in awe.

Gabriel and his brother Hudson were born on October 5, 2018. The road since mom Jolene and dad Righardt found out they are expecting, was one mixed with happiness, fear, and trust.

It all started at the second scan which took them on a path paved with uncertainties.

“Our doctor told us our twins were in the same sac, which causes a huge amount of complications,” Jolene said.

To top it all off the one baby was smaller than the other and doctors thought it was twin-to-twin transfusion, where one baby steals the other baby’s blood supply until they both eventually die.

A closer examination showed that one baby had a serious heart condition.

It was discovered that their one twin, who they would name Gabriel, was diagnosed with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome while still in the womb.

That meant blood flow through Gabriel’s heart was affected due to the severe underdevelopment of the left side of the heart.

“We weren’t given any hope…”

After months of tears and prayers, Jolene and Righardt decided that their little heart warrior was placed in their life for a reason.

Under the watchful eyes of paediatric cardiologist, Dr Jeff Harrisberg and gynaecologist, Dr Kalliopi Kyriazis from Netcare Sunninghill Hospital Jolene’s pregnancy was monitored until the boys arrived. This was just the start of the journey for the new parents.

“What lay ahead would continue to test our faith to the max. The baby that was given no hope, had a name, a beating heart, and a fighting spirit like no other.”

Gabriel underwent his first surgery, a pulmonary artery banding led by cardiothoracic surgeon Dr Hendrik Mamorare, when he was just 11 days old.

A band is placed on his pulmonary artery to restrict the flow of blood going towards his lungs. This procedure was a success.

Just over a month later he had to go to the Cath Lab to have a heart catheterization done as the hole between his two upper chambers was closing. The cardiologist performed a balloon septostomy and enlarged the hole for blood to flow freely between the two chambers.

On November 24, after 54 days in the neonatal intensive care unit, Gabriel went home for the first time to reunite with his brother.

Four months later, during a visit to the Cath Lab, Gabriel’s team learned that the hole between the two chambers was narrowing once again. It was decided that the second stage of his operational repair needed to be done – the Bi-directional Glenn Shunt procedure.

At five months old, Gabriel met with Dr Mamorare once again for open-heart surgery.

Nine days later he went back to theatre as his diaphragm went into spasm and it was restricting his lungs, causing breathing difficulty. His chest wound wasn’t healing so he went back into theatre three times before they could finally close it up and let it heal. The doctors then discovered that whilst sleeping his heart rate was very and made the call to put in a pacemaker to assist his little heart.

In May 2019 Gabriel eventually went home.

“God touched our hearts so deep inside, our special blessing multiplied. Life with twins is hard on many parents and then throwing a medically complex baby into the mix makes it so much more challenging,” Jolene said.

She added that Gabriel and Hudson are like any other siblings although Hudson is bigger than Gabriel and does not always understand why his brother can’t walk and run around as he does.

Hudson occasionally takes Gabriel’s hand and tries to take him for a walk; it does not always end well.

At the end of July Gabriel has to see the cardiologist again for a check-up and two to three years from now he will have to undergo a third operation to complete the new heart circulation.

“Through this all we have been truly blessed and have seen that miracles still happen. We have learned to embrace every day and make the most of it as tomorrow is not promised.”

ALSO READ:

https://www.citizen.co.za/witbank-news/156471/hypoplastic-left-heart-syndrome-in-children/