Sophie is 3 – three and a half actually. She lives in Dundonald and is an absolute livewire. Her family joke that when she had her surgery the doctors put an extra battery in her.
Unfortunately Sophie’s congenital heart disease wasn’t able to be detected before her birth so when a heart murmur was discovered, the diagnosis was a complete bolt out of the blue. Her first surgery was very traumatic. She was in ICU for 4 to 5 days and on life support for 2 weeks.
For mum Caroline, that Mother’s day was particularly special as it was the first time in over a month that she had been able to hold her baby girl. But soon afterwards Sophie suffered from a collapsed lung and then an infection and Caroline and Chris had to learn to cope with Sophie’s very important medication.
Nowadays Sophie is off all medication. She is in very good health and has just started nursery.
Big brother Josh dotes on her and he has been very understanding about the amount of extra care Sophie has needed. But he’s had to grow up quickly and now has a very old head on his young shoulders.
