Boy dies for 40 minutes......

Boy dies for 40 minutes before doctor brings him back to life by massaging his heart with his BARE HANDS

By Daily Mail Reporter

Last updated at 1:06 PM on 6th July 2011

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A little boy whose heart stopped beating for 40minutes made a miracle recovery after a doctor opened up his chest and pumped the organ by hand.

Joshua Baker, 5, suffered a huge cardiac arrest just a few days after undergoing a risky operation to correct a rare heart condition.


Luckily one of his surgeons, Mr Giles Peek, was passing the room at the time and rushed in.

Joshua was admitted to hospital in November after a check-up revealed that the one functioning side of his heart was working so hard it was likely to explode

His mother Rebecca, said: 'Straight away, he just opened up Josh's chest and started massaging his heart.

'Josh was down for 40 minutes altogether - we were so relieved when he came back.'

However, doctors warned his parents that even if he survived the night, Joshua would probably suffer brain damage because his brain had been without oxygen for so long.


But just a few months after coming back from the dead, Joshua is now a happy and healthy little boy.


He is enjoying being back home in Birmingham, with his parents, Rebecca, 31, and Lee, 29, a gardener, and sisters, Chloe, 6, and Mia, 3.

 

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Mrs Baker said: 'We are absolutely blown away by Josh's recovery.

'He has been very ill since he was little, and we have thought so many times that we were going to lose him.

'Sitting in a hospital and seeing my little boy's heart stop beating is the most terrifying thing that has ever happened to me.

'We cannot explain how grateful we are to the surgeon who saved his life - he is a wonderful man.

'The whole family is so grateful to have Joshua back home. It's amazing to see him running around and playing with his sisters. I feel so lucky.'

Joshua was diagnosed with a complex congenital heart disease just two weeks after he was born.

Criticall: Joshua, pictured in hospital last November, had four major operations and seven minor procedures by the time he was two

His parents were devastated when they were told their son had a hole in his heart - as well the right side of his heart failing to function, and pumping blood around his body the wrong way.

He had four major heart operations and seven minor procedures before he turned two - but in November 2010, a check up revealed that the one functioning side of Josh's heart was working so hard it was likely to explode unless he had a major operation.

However, the surgery to strengthen his ventricles was so risky that medics warned his parents there was only a 20 per cent chance he would survive.

Mrs Baker said: 'We were left to make an impossible decision. The operation was so dangerous, and there was so little chance that he would pull through, that I almost couldn't bring myself to consent to it.

'But I knew that without help, his heart would give up. I couldn't let him slip away from us.
'Joshua's a fighter and I know we had to give him a chance to fight. The operation lasted an agonising 15 hours, and Josh was critically ill afterwards. It was one of the worst times of my life.

'His heart was swollen and bruised from the surgery, and as a mum, all I wanted to do was pick him up and cuddle him, but I couldn't.'

Joshua survived the operation, but was kept on the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit at Glenfield Hospital in Leicester for two weeks.

His condition suddenly deteriorated after his heart developed a bleed - and he suffered a massive cardiac arrest.

The full-time mother added: 'We had been by Joshua's bedside constantly since the operation. He was hooked up to dozens of machines, when suddenly nurses and doctors started rushing in.

'We were terrified. Everything happened so quickly we had no idea what was going on, but obviously, we knew it wasn't good news.

Magic medicine: Joshua (centre) with his parents Rebecca and Lee and sisters, Chloe and Mia. His sisters managed to rouse him in hospital by singing a Christmas song

'Luckily, Joshua's surgeon had been passing his room when his heart failed and came rushing in.
'Straight away, he just opened up Josh's chest and started massaging his heart.

'Josh was down for 40 minutes altogether - we were so relieved when he came back.'

His family then faced an anxious wait to see if he would recover.


'We brought Josh all his favourite toys and hoped he would recognise them, but there was nothing,' Mrs Baker said.

'He was too ill for his sisters to visit him, but I let them speak down the phone to Josh.
'It was just before Christmas, and the girls sang Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer over the phone to him. Suddenly, his eyes flickered and a huge grin spread over his face.

'It was the best moment of my life. My husband and I burst out crying, and so did all the nurses on the ward.

'His sisters were his magic medicine, and he's been getting stronger and stronger ever since.'

Joshua had problems walking when he came out of hospital and still gets tired easily but is gaining strengths and enjoys playing football with his father.

'We are just so grateful to Dr Peek and everyone who looked after Josh at Glenfield Hospital,' Mrs Baker said.

Carmel Hunt, matron for the East Midlands Congenital Heart Centre, said: 'Joshua spent three weeks with us at Glenfield Hospital in Leicester and spent his fifth birthday with us.

'We are delighted that he is now back home with his family and is making a fully recovery.'

 

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