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A Margate couple have paid tribute to the doctors and nurses who saved their daughter’s life – by naming her after the hospital that cared for her.
Evalina Cox - known as Evie - underwent two open heart surgeries and multiple procedures to mend a number of life-threatening heart defects, all before her second birthday.
Her parents Justin Cox and Jo Hughes, wanted to do something to thank the staff at Evelina London Children’s Hospital who worked tirelessly to help her.
Jo, a hypnobirthing instructor, said: “We’ve had such incredible care from the staff since before she was even born, so we decided to name her Evalina.
“It’s such a pretty name but also a tribute from us to the hospital.
“We added our own stamp by changing the spelling slightly, and we call her Evie for short, but we just wanted to give thanks to all of the hospital staff. We know she wouldn’t be here without them.”
After something unusual was detected on her 20-week pregnancy scan, Jo was referred to Evelina London. It was there the couple were told the extent of their daughter’s serious heart defects.
Evie’s two main blood vessels, the pulmonary artery and the aorta, were swapped over.
Doctors also discovered she had multiple other complex heart problems. Without surgery for this extremely rare defect shortly after birth, Evie would not survive.
Jo, 41, said: “We were in shock. When we heard the extent of Evie’s conditions, we expected the worst.”
It was arranged that Jo would give birth at St Thomas’ Hospital, which is co-located with Evelina London.
In most cases, those like Evie with transposition of the great arteries (TGA), have the necessary operation to correct the defect shortly after birth. However, Evie was unable to have this operation right away due to her other heart defects and required further treatment first.
Her first surgery took place at just six days old and after open-heart surgery at six weeks old, Evie suffered a cardiac arrest.
Justin, 50, said: “It was the most terrifying thing. Seeing the doctors over Evie while she was still so tiny trying to start her heart again just didn’t feel real.”
Doctors battled to save her and after an hour and 20 minutes of CPR, Evie’s heart began to beat again.
Once stabilised, she was put on a life-saving machine for five days, with the technology doing the job of the heart and lungs.
Evie spent a further six weeks at Evelina London and during this time suffered further complications, including a collapsed lung, seizure and a stroke.
Justin, who is a PE teacher, said: “After everything that had already happened, to then have a stroke, you wonder how much she can take.
"Thankfully, her brain function was not damaged at all and she made a full recovery.”
Jo and Justin were finally able to take their daughter home when she was 13 weeks old but knew she would need more treatment in the future.
On November 5, 2018, when Evie was 19 months old, she underwent her biggest operation yet.
The open heart surgery, known as the Nikaidoh procedure, is a technique used to treat people with TGA and involves swapping the pulmonary artery and the aorta so they connect to the correct chamber.
The nine-hour surgery was undertaken at Evelina London by Caner Salih and Reza Hosseinpour, an expert from Seville in Spain.
Justin said: “After everything she’d been through, Evie was back to her normal, ridiculously energetic self just a week later.
“She’s now a happy and healthy two-year-old.”
Now the family are looking forward to the future.
Justin said: “You wouldn’t know she’d been through so much.
“We have trouble holding her back sometimes - it’s just onwards and upwards now.”
