The 8-year-old boy who, together with his beloved cow, survives a heart transplant and 453 days in a hospital

There are children who cannot detach themselves from their dog or cat, considering them a key part of their family and unconditional support, and there is also Jackson Ward, an 8-year-old boy who loves his cow Itsy and in whom he has found the perfect company to continue recovering. of a heart transplant that kept him 453 days in the hospital. Today both friends enjoy at the family ranch in Texas, USA.

He was discharged from Texas Children’s Hospital on December 20, but it took several days for their reunion and for the child to caress her again in an extremely moving scene, since the last time he saw her was in 2021, before being hospitalized.

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“It’s been amazing to see him enjoy life again (…) It’s truly a blessing”his mother, Leah Ward, told People, who thought she would never see them together again at the ranch due to her complex state of health.

Jackson’s fight to overcome death

When she was 20 weeks pregnant, an ultrasound revealed that her baby had a life-threatening birth defect called hypoplastic left heart syndromewhich occurs when a child is born with a non-functioning left side of the heart.

His first surgery was at age 5, but three years later it was determined that he would need a heart transplant. After 453 days and just five days before Christmas, Jackson was released from the hospital and walked out of Texas Children’s Hospital full of life.

Her mother, now 38, knows this is a new opportunity with her husband Jason, whom she met when they were high school students in rural New York. clevelandTexas, where they still reside.

And it is that this family has not had it easy, because to the pain of seeing Jackson sick and with little chance of life is added the pain that his first son, Marshall, died in a car accident at 20 months in April 2013 .

“When we first received the diagnosis, I came home and told my husband: ‘I don’t want to give him up’ (…) Finding out that I was pregnant with him snapped me out of my depression. I was in a bad moment and he saved my life.”Leah remembered.

Jackson Ward left the hospital to the applause of all the medical staff who had been caring for him for 453 days. (Photo: Texas Children’s Hospital / Facebook).

The odyssey to get a heart donor

From there they fought tirelessly to save him and so the boy underwent three-part heart surgery at Texas Children’s Hospital: at 5 days old, again when he was 4 and a half months, and at 5 years old. That worked for a while and allowed him to have a more bearable childhood until he contracted rhinovirus in September 2021, triggering myocarditis (inflammation or infection of the heart muscle) leading to severe heart failure. Since then he has been hospitalized.

That’s when the news came that he needed a heart transplant to continue living and an artificial pump device called the Berlin Heart was implanted until a donor came along. The path of about a year was not easy until the compatible heart arrived at the beginning of July 2022, but a failure in the plane that was carrying him threw his plans into the water; Nevertheless, he finally received the transplant on oct 1tuber.

“I was so relieved (…) This was our chance to get our life back. We know absolutely nothing about our donor, but I want to know who this person is. I am indebted to them forever.”the mother added.

But things did not go well and there was a steroid osteoporosis that motivated them to open his chest. “It was heartbreaking. The only time I felt such deep sadness was when we lost Marshall. All those same feelings came back.”.

After a week of sedation, his chest was closed again on November 1, and 7 weeks later, Jackson Ward slowly walked out of the hospital to applause from all the staff.

“We are living again! Living because someone gave us back the life of our Jackson “Leah wrote in a recent blog post. Facebook where he documented all the way.

She currently enjoys the outdoors, playing with her 6-year-old sister Mae and helping her mom with chores around the ranch like feeding the horses and even going down to the pond to fish, yes, she never stops visiting her cow Itsy.

Source: Elcomercio