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Kelly Rissman
US News Reporter
A couple who were told their baby probably won’t survive after she had a cardiac arrest at just 10 weeks old are preparing to celebrate her first birthday.
Melissa Howard, 21, and her partner Steve Wilson, 36, who live in Bradford, West Yorkshire, welcomed their daughter Freya Wilson into the world on October 31 2023, describing her as “the perfect child”.
However, on January 11 2024, Melissa found Freya unresponsive, floppy, and grey in colour in her cot, leading her to call 999 – and paramedics delivered CPR for 10 minutes before her heartbeat returned.
The couple said it was their “worst nightmare” and Freya spent the next five months in hospital under constant surveillance, with doctors telling them: “She’s probably not going to survive.”
Melissa and Steve “prepared for the worst”, but Freya has since been discharged from hospital – and despite needing to be tube fed and monitored by a machine, she has made “so much progress”.
The couple cannot wait to celebrate her first birthday next month and they have even bought a pumpkin Halloween costume for the occasion.
Melissa told PA Real Life: “All those times we thought, she might not make it past the weekend, or she might not make it another week, this could very well be her last day – but she’s still here.
“It’s an accomplishment for us to be able to say that it’s her birthday soon and that we’re going to celebrate and we’re going to spoil her.”
Steve, who works in a warehouse, added: “It’s a mix of the worst year of our life with the best year of our life.
“We’ve gone from practically losing her to still having her – and still having her beats everything. There’s nothing that can ever replace still having her.”
When Freya was born, Melissa said she was “the perfect child” – she was healthy, she slept through the night, she did not cry, and everything was going “smoothly”.
However, what started out as “a normal day” on January 11 2024 turned into a “nightmare”, as Freya was found unresponsive in her cot following a cardiac arrest – when the heart stops beating suddenly.
“At first I thought nothing of it because she loves to sleep… but she just didn’t wake up,” Melissa said.
“It was really concerning because she was never that difficult to wake up and, at this point, I thought, ‘Something’s not right’.
“I was panicking, I turned the bedroom upside down to try to find an area where I could bounce her to try to wake her up, but then I rang Steve and I was just shouting down the phone.”
Steve said: “I will always remember it. She said, ‘I need you now, I need you to come home’.”
As soon as Melissa ended the phone call, she dialled 999 and was told how to deliver CPR, which was “traumatising to do”, before paramedics, first responders and police officers arrived at the house.
After the paramedics took over, delivering CPR for a further 10 minutes, they said they were able to “get her heartbeat back” before taking Freya to Bradford Royal Infirmary (BRI).
Steve said: “It’s your worst nightmare.”
After arriving at BRI, Freya spent the next seven hours “fighting for her life”, where she was placed on a ventilator and given a breathing tube and at least seven different medications intravenously.
When Freya was eventually stabilised, she was transferred to Sheffield Children’s Hospital, where she remained for four weeks and received treatment on the intensive care unit.
“It was just horrifying being sat in the ambulance, knowing you’re going well over an hour away from home, with nothing to your name, and a daughter that could potentially not make it,” Melissa said.
“Her heart rate was in the 200s for the whole journey.”
British Heart Foundation (BHF) statistics show there are more than 30,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCAs) in the UK each year, with a survival rate of less than one in 10.
BHF said infant OHCAs do happen, but they are a small proportion of total OHCAs, with the most recent data showing 1.7% of OHCAs occurred in people under 15 years old.
The couple were able to stay at Magnolia House at Sheffield Children’s Hospital – one of the Sick Children’s Trust charity’s “Homes from Home” – for the four-week stay and they said this “saved” them.
“To be given a place so close to Freya, completely free of charge and with all the amenities we could need, felt like a gift from heaven,” Melissa said.
The couple were supported by Martin House Children’s Hospice as well, before being discharged – but Freya was then transferred back to BRI, where she remained for the following four months.
Although Freya was being cared for by “the best” doctors and nurses, Melissa and Steve were told she might not make it.
Melissa said: “We have no idea how long she was without oxygen for, and we probably never will. We still don’t know what caused it.
“Luckily, we went through this whole journey and we still have her here, so all of those little things in the end don’t matter because she’s still alive.”
Freya was discharged from BRI in June this year and has since “gone from being a very sick and fragile child to being at home” – with Steve adding she is a “fighter”.
Although her oxygen levels and heart rate need to be constantly monitored via a machine, she takes seven medications every day and she is tube fed, she is “making progress” and getting stronger.
Melissa said it felt like they had “lost everything” when Freya was taken to hospital – but now “the house is full again” and she has regained her full-time job as Freya’s mother.
Freya is curious, “cheeky” and “determined” and, although the couple are still adjusting to a new normal, everything is going “in the right direction” and they are grateful their daughter is still here.
They do not have any official plans for her first birthday yet, but they are going to revisit the two hospitals to show Freya’s progress and they have bought her a pumpkin Halloween outfit with striped tights.
Melissa said: “At one point we were told that she’s probably not going to survive hospital admission.
“There were so many occasions where we thought that she wasn’t going to make it, and we started preparing for the worst, and still she got through it.
“So having her first birthday just means that we’ve made it, we did it.”
Speaking about the couple’s advice to others, Melissa added: “Never say no when someone asks you if you need help because you never know when you’re going to need it.
“The support we’ve received has been more helpful than words can express.”
To find out more about the Sick Children’s Trust, visit: sickchildrenstrust.org.
