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Ellis Collins is a half a heart hero.

Mummy & daddy found out at the 20 week scan that I had a problem with my heart. They were referred to the Evelina hospital in London, where they confirmed my diagnosis - I have Tricuspid Atresia, which means the major pumping valve in the right side of my heart did not form in the womb. I also have Transposed Great Arteries which means my Aorta and Pulmonary Artery are switched around, connected to the “wrong” sides of my heart compared to other people. This means that the blood which needs oxygen from my lungs, and the blood which already has oxygen and should travel around my body are all mixed up – thankfully I also have holes in my heart which mean some of the blood still gets to the right places.

Because of this, I had surgery at 2 days old to keep my holes in my heart open as they keep me alive. I also had open heart surgery at just under 4 months old to begin the transition to only use half of my heart for pumping blood, this took place over Christmas 2018 and we spent my first Christmas and New year in hospital which was very tough on my big sister Freya as she was only 3 years old.

Since then I had one further open heart surgery during the height of covid in January 2021. This experience was even more difficult as only one parent was allowed at hospital and Freya couldn't visit at all. We had to tag team between hospital life and home schooling! 

In the future I will need more surgery which will eventually lead to me only using half my heart for the rest of my life. 30 years ago, this series of surgeries were not around, and if it weren’t for these operations, I would not have survived. 

Aside from all this, I'm a very happy boy who loves life and most of the time you wouldn't really know there's anything wrong with me at all! I love preschool, dinosaurs, sharks, superheroes and am now a very cheeky 4 year old! 

Thank you for reading my story, please do give what you can to support a charity which helps just families like ours.