The whole family shed so many tears before a miracle happened for the child and everyone else.

Aimee Roberts, 25, shared that she was shocked to learn that her son, Leo, had a congenital heart defect just days after he was born.

Aimee and her husband, Alex Nicholls, 26, were told by doctors that their son needed surgery to widen his heart valves, and that it was predicted to be the worst-case scenario.

“I’ve never cried so much,” she said, referring to the day she handed her son to the anesthesiologist when he was only seven days old. “I cried for weeks; the reality was so terrible. I couldn’t stop crying when I thought about him,” Aimee shared.

Alex, Leo’s father, was emotional: “We had to deal with so many new terms; we were thrown into a world where nobody knew what was going to happen. I didn’t know where things were going.”

“We were forced to learn all about cardiovascular surgery, ECGs, indicators, blood tests, diagrams, risks, and our child’s survival rate. Going through all of this made us understand: Nothing can make you feel more helpless than handing your child over to the doctors with such a slim chance of survival. I cried until my tears ran dry.”

Little Leo was born a week premature at St Michael’s Hospital in Bristol and suffered from four different heart conditions.

He was diagnosed with aortic stenosis, abnormal blood flow, small fistulas in his heart, and only two of his three bronchial artery valves functioning.

His mother, Aimee, blamed herself: “I didn’t believe the initial diagnosis. Could I have done anything to save him? I kept asking myself that. The doctors said his condition was congenital and there was absolutely nothing I could do for him.”

Leo weighed 3.2kg at birth, but lost 2kg due to extreme weakness, making him unfit for surgery. Doctors had to wait a week for him to reach the ideal weight for the major operation. The chance of survival came with unimaginable risks of death, paralysis, infection, spinal cord damage, stroke, and internal bleeding.

Before the surgery, Leo was isolated for four hours and given absolutely no food or drink. Each passing hour felt like a suffocating weight for his mother Aimee, father Alex, grandmother, and aunt. But miraculously, a miracle happened, and the surgery was a complete success.

“His eyes were swollen, he couldn’t feel anything around him, his whole body was covered in tubes and wires.” During the first week, Leo experienced five complications and post-operative infections.

“There are still two more cardiovascular issues, but we’ll have to monitor his condition before proceeding with surgery. He’s doing so well; our son is truly resilient!” – Aimee’s mother said proudly about her son.