Doctors told me to abort my baby after he was diagnosed with a heart condition when I was 20 weeks pregnant – but next month he’ll start school
A MUM who planned her newborn son's funeral after he was diagnosed with a life-threatening heart condition when she was 20 weeks pregnant told how he has beaten the odds and will start school next month.
Zack Murphy has undergone four open heart surgeries despite being just four years old.
Mum Aoife, 30, from County Meath, Ireland, was 26 and 20 weeks pregnant when a scan revealed her child had a serious heart defect.
Doctors in London, where she was living at the time, warned Aoife her child could die in the womb and had little chance of surviving after birth.
She was offered a termination, leaving her faced with an agonising decision.
Aoife recalled: “I was devastated. I didn’t know what was wrong, only that if he made it through birth, he would need open heart surgery.”
The NHS said: "The term 'congenital' means the condition is present from birth.
"Congenital heart disease is one of the most common types of birth defect, affecting up to 8 in every 1,000 babies born in the UK."
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