Mum's 'frightening' ordeal after daughter born with two holes in heart at King's Mill Hospital

As a single mum, Samantha was delighted to give birth to her first child Luna-Annie Dudley at King’s Mill Hospital, Sutton, on November 12, 2017.

But after taking her baby home from the hospital, Samantha said something inside warned her to keep a close eye on Luna-Annie.

The 30-year-old said: “I remember looking over at her one day and her skin was blue. It was also taking two hours just to get 30ml of milk down her.

“I knew something just wasn’t right.”

At first, doctors suspected the symptoms were due to mucus. But the real cause came to light after a midwife visited their Ollerton home and pushed Samantha to take Luna-Annie straight to the hospital.

“It turned out she was cardiac arrest positive,” she said.

“If I hadn’t taken her in when I did then she probably wouldn’t be here today.”

The new mum was devastated when doctors discovered two holes in her precious baby’s heart – and was told that she needed open-heart surgery.

Samantha, who works at the Sugar Rush dessert parlour in Ollerton, then faced an agonising wait for surgery while her daughter’s condition meant oxygenated blood was struggling to pump around her tiny body. This caused months-old Luna-Annie incredible fatigue during even the smallest of tasks.

Samantha said: “She also had to be tube-fed and that was difficult – it was like that baby bonding experience had been taken away as I couldn’t feed her myself.”

The major operation was finally performed at Glenfield Hospital in Leicester, which Samantha described as “absolutely frightening”.

“I was like a lion in a cage,” she said.

“They told me the chances of her surviving were 50/50 as she could have had a stroke or stopped breathing during the surgery.

“It was the longest six hours of my life.”

Thankfully the surgery was a success, patching up the holes so blood could flow naturally around Luna-Annie’s body.

But Samantha said her daughter didn’t look the same after the operation.

“It was shocking to see her afterwards as she looked completely different. They had to break her chest bone to operate on her heart, and her eyes looked like a puffer fish. And with all the drains and tubes she had inside her, it was horrible to see.

“But it was such a relief that it was done.”

Now, five years later, Luna-Annie is a thriving young schoolgirl at Maun Infant and Nursery School, New Ollerton.

Samantha said: “When you look at her now, you wouldn’t think she’s been through what she has.

“She’s very sassy. I always tell her she’s a warrior and she says ‘no mum, I’m a princess’.”

As a way of saying thank you for Luna-Annie’s recovery, Samantha is committed to fundraising for charity HeartLink to help other families facing similar situations – raising thousands at her charity events over the last four years.

The next fundraiser will take place on Sunday, July 30, at Walesby Village Sports Club from 11am, offering stalls, fancy dress, live music and a Mini Cooper show.

To hold a stall or donate raffle prizes, visit Samantha’s charity page at fb.com/groups/323494161822955