‘Unknown’ Operation a Lifesaver

The Hobart Mercury

FIVE months ago Ben and Veronica Sneesby were told their unborn baby had no chance of survival. But today the couple are proud parents of three-week-old Phelicity after using their life savings to get to the other side of the world for a ground-breaking operation they were told didn’t exist.

When Mrs Sneesby had a routine ultrasound 19 weeks into the pregnancy, the couple learned their baby suffered from hypoplastic left heart syndrome. Doctors advised the young Central Coast couple to terminate the pregnancy or expect the baby to die within days of birth. But the Sneesby’s decided to battle on and search for a cure.

Using the Internet, they found a doctor in the United States willing to perform the new procedure. Florida doctor Mark Galantowicz offered his services for free, but the couple still faced the $250,000 cost of travel and hospital expenses. They managed to raise $60,000, but are yet to raise enough money for the hospital bill. But their efforts were more than rewarded three weeks ago when Phelicity, their second daughter, was born at Columbus Children’s Hospital in Ohio.

HLHS cripples the development of the left side of the heart. On July 18, doctors per formed an emergency caesarean section with the first of three stages in the heart operation to save her life scheduled for 12 days later. Doctors placed a small bandage around arteries in Phelicity’s heart to restrict the blood flow to her lungs, forcing blood out into the body. Next a semi-permanent gauze was put inside the hole in her heart to keep it open so that the left and right sides became joined, allowing the blood to flow around the body and to the lungs. A third operation, scheduled for October, aims to permanently redirect the blood flow so that Phelicity can lead a normal life. Dr Galantowicz describes Phelicity as a “miracle baby”.