A girl born with her heart on the wrong side has had her life transformed by pioneering surgery.
Nancy Rockell also had only one heart valve, tangled intestines, an upside down appendix and no spleen.
But the four-year-old has undergone an incredible improvement in her health after four major operations, including three open-heart procedures.
Mum Kayleigh, 32, said: “The latest operation has been life-changing for Nancy. She has more energy, she can now eat properly and she enjoys playing with her two brothers.
“We were told she wouldn’t survive without this operation and we were extremely worried.
“It took more than six hours, which felt like the longest time of our lives. But the surgeons informed us it had gone well. It was such a relief. We were in tears.”
Kayleigh, of Bracknell, Berkshire, learned when pregnant that Nancy had the heart abnormality atrial isomerism, a condition affecting one in 10,000.
After being born at St Thomas’ Hospital in Central London, the little girl was moved to the specialist Evelina London Children’s Hospital.
Kayleigh said: “Nancy had her first open-heart surgery when she was nine months. It went well but as she got older she struggled with shortness of breath.
“A second operation was a success but she became ill and we were told that her heart valve was seriously damaged. We thought we were going to lose her.”
But the transformation in Nancy’s health in the past year has been made possible by world-leading surgeons.
Dr Aaron Bell, consultant paediatric cardiologist at Evelina, said: “She has amazed us by how she has recovered.”
Nancy and Kayleigh – plus her wife Kirsty and sons Oscar, six, and Reggie, six months – recently switched on the lights on London Eye to mark Evelina’s 150th anniversary.
Kayleigh added: “We owe Nancy’s life to the cardiology team at Evelina.”
