A terrified mother has spoken of seeing her baby fighting for her life after a seemingly simple cold turned out to be a rare heart infection.
Chloe Lavan, 24, lived through every parent's worst nightmare when four-month-old Evie's heart function plummeted to just three per cent.
Thankfully, she has since made a recovery and was cleared to go home with Chloe, father David Green and Theodore, her one-year-old brother.
Traumatised by the experience, Chloe has now begun an ambitious fundraising drive to reward the "amazing" Freeman Hospital in Newcastle, specifically the Children's Heart Unit.
Chloe first took Evie to the doctor when she developed cold-like symptoms at the beginning of the cold season.
The mum-of-two from Middlesbrough told Chronicle Live : "You can never be too careful. But they just said it was a viral infection."
But when Evie's symptoms continued to worsen, she was eventually diagnosed with bronchiolitis, a common respiratory tract infection that affects babies and children under two years old.
The family spent the next few days in and out of hospital as the baby became breathless and pale - while she also suffered from coughing fits and cold hands and feet.
Chloe said: "We got an emergency appointment with a doctor who rang an ambulance straight away because of her breathing.
"That could have saved her life, it scares me to think what might have happened if he hadn't done that."
Evie went to the James Cook Hospital, in Middlesbrough, where a scan showed that she had an enlarged heart.
She was immediately transferred to the Freeman Hospital for urgent treatment by specialists.
Evie was then diagnosed with myocarditis - a condition triggered by viral infections which can, in serious cases, lead to heart failure.
Chloe said: "I'd never heard of it in my life and I think it's something parents aren't really aware of.
"I've got a little boy as well and he's had coughs and colds all the time but we never considered that could ever happen.
"Thankfully she's doing so well on medication she's been discharged, but this isn't the end of the road.
"We'll still have to come back weekly to see if there's any improvement, and either she'll be on medication for life or she'll need a heart transplant.
"It's very worrying but we can't believe how well she's done considering how bad her heart function is - at one point it was three per cent which is quite dangerous."
Speaking of her fundraising efforts for the Freeman Hospital, she added: "My main aim for this is to raise money for an amazing ward who do such wonderful things with children and I’m so grateful for everything they have done and will continue to do for my daughter.
"I want to raise funds to help get more money and more awareness in that sort of area, because I had no idea how many children have heart problems."
Donations to the crowdfunding effort can be made here
