Rebecca Price and Anthony Wileman, from Ashton-under-Lyne, have been stranded in Belgium for 46 days after their son Levi was born 14 weeks early. The couple traveled to UZ Leuven hospital for specialist fetal surgery to treat spina bifida, but complications led to an emergency C-section. Levi was born on June 2 weighing just 900 grams and remains in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
Miracle Pregnancy After Initial Diagnosis
Rebecca, 27, discovered she was pregnant on Christmas Eve, despite doctors initially telling the couple they would not be able to have a child. The pregnancy was difficult, with multiple hospital visits, sickness, and scares. At a 20-week scan, they learned Levi had spina bifida, a defect where the spine and spinal cord fail to develop properly in the womb.
Journey to Belgium for Fetal Surgery
Rebecca qualified for fetal surgery, a procedure where doctors operate on the baby while still in the womb. Under NHS rules, patients in northern England are sent to UZ Leuven in Belgium, while southern patients go to London. The couple flew out on May 21, expecting to stay about two weeks. After a successful surgery, Rebecca began feeling unwell.
"We assumed everything was okay," she told the M.E.N. "It got to the weekend and I was saying to Anthony that I don't feel well, something's not right." She started having contractions, and an emergency C-section was performed. "I got moved to a different ward and they said, 'yeah, you're not going home tomorrow.' Everything that could have gone wrong went wrong."
Life in the NICU
Levi was rushed to the NICU on oxygen, but the spina bifida surgery was "absolutely perfect," according to Rebecca. "He's healing really, really well with it." However, the family remains in limbo, spending their days between hotel rooms and hospital wards. "We've been here 46 days today (July 6), we're not counting or anything," Rebecca joked. "We've had a baby and we have to ask if we can touch him, if we can hold him."
Anthony, 32, added: "It's hard, the last thing you want is no control and we have absolutely no control. We don't get a say. We've got family at home and things like that. I've said to Becca, I've never thought I'd say this, but I miss work. I miss getting stuck in traffic on the way to Stockport." Rebecca interjected, laughing: "We miss things like Vimto!"
Support and Hope for Homecoming
The NHS covers accommodation and transport, which the couple are "grateful" for, along with the "amazing treatment" from Belgian hospital staff. A JustGiving page has been created to support them with other expenses. "We just want to go home, but at the same time we're so grateful that Levi is here because he's getting special care for his spina bifida," said Rebecca. "He has the best team, but we selfishly want to go home. I feel like as soon as we step foot in Manchester we're both going to burst into tears. I've got six new abdominal scars since being here, if I look at them and we actually sit and think about what's happened we'll start crying but we can't. Our little boy is in the hospital covered in wires and getting needles all the time."
