At the age of 7, Maël had a cardiac arrest. At the age of 12, Jakob also had a cardiac arrest. This was caused by a genetic mutation that causes the heart to stop without warning. In both cases, cardiac massage and resuscitation were performed. We had to fit a defibrillator to each of them, a device that is only available in adult format. The boys have no after-effects and are in great shape. In early 2024, Maël’s device sounded an alarm… the wire was breaking and had to be replaced urgently! When the device was removed, complications arose, and a piece of wire became trapped in his heart. Emergency heart surgery was performed to remove the trapped piece and repair the tricuspid valve, which had been damaged by the wire and was large for such a young child. The surgery went well, but we had to install another model of defibrillator.
As we live in a remote area, the final 23-day hospital stay could have been very costly! The En Cœur Foundation gave us gift certificates for the cafeteria at the CHUL and also paid our accommodation bill.All these amounts enabled us to make ends meet financially, and Mom was able to stay with her boys during 3 hospitalizations in less than 5 years. What is more, support is available if you need it.
Life is not always smooth and easy, but we look ahead, we stay positive… it is still worth living!