A single mother of two has raised nearly £300,000 after launching a 'desperate plea' to fund life-saving surgery for her three-year-old son. Hannah Silver is hoping to raise £400,000 for surgery, accommodation and recovery costs for her son, Sebastian, in the US after UK surgeons told her they had exhausted all options for his extremely rare combination of four heart conditions.
Son's condition and cardiac arrest
Since birth, Sebastian has been in and out of Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) due to a combination of criss-cross heart, Congenital Corrected Transposition of the Great Arteries (ccTGA), heart holes and Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome. His time at GOSH ended with the three-year-old suffering a major cardiac arrest following an attempt to treat the conditions. He only survived because his chest was still open after surgery.
After that, there were only two options: 'let nature take its course' or reverse the surgery. For his mother it was a no-brainer, and after going 90 minutes without oxygen to the brain, he survived. The surgeons at GOSH are cautious about further surgery as Sebastian's survival has been considered a 'miracle'.
Fundraising campaign
Hannah, 42, told Metro: 'When they told me my son was dying, my heart, body and soul all shattered at the same time. I fell to the floor and couldn't move. I thought I was going to have to bury my child.'
She said: 'By the grace of god, they had a row of doctors literally pumping his heart inside his chest. A lot of that is a blur. To this day, they don't know what happened. That makes them cautious with Sebastian because he's already had a heart failure. His heart couldn't cope without a machine.'
Hannah said: 'He's already had one miracle. I think he can have one more.' She now hopes to raise the remaining £130,000 needed to access life-changing treatment in Boston. 'I'm trying to do everything I can,' she told Metro. 'I'm in every single Facebook group that I can. I've tried to sell my flat for two years for this, but I haven't been able to. I've exhausted my own communities; I now need to rely on the kindness and generosity of strangers.'
Family impact and next steps
The fast response to the GoFundMe fundraiser has overwhelmed Hannah, raising £269,384 of the £400,000 needed since it was launched on September 24. She said: 'I was in tears. I just wanted to cry. People's reaction to it was just amazing.'
Since Sebastian's birth, life has been on hold for Hannah and her daughter, Sidney. Hannah added: 'You stop thinking and feeling. I need to keep my kid alive. I also have another kid to think of; I don't really have the luxury to not keep going.'
The situation can be especially difficult for five-year-old Sidney, who cannot fully understand what is going on. Hannah said: 'She's spent the last three years taking a back seat. My kids don't know any different. Sidney sometimes says, "Let's not buy any more squishies because we need to save money to save Sebastian."'
Following the reversal surgery, they have managed to have one almost normal summer. She said: 'We went on a Disney Cruise. We've never got to be a family and relax. I wanted some family memories where I'm not stressed out, working or trying to take care of the kids.'
Despite the success of reversal surgery, even a more permanent fix across the pond may not work out the way Hannah hopes. She told Metro: 'What happens if he doesn't make it and I've got to fly him home? You really have to face your worst nightmares, and it's really crippling.'
