Tyrella girl who is thankful for heart operation

Tyrella girl who is thankful for heart operation

15 February 2012 - by DAVID TELFORD

ANNA Tumelty looks like any other four year-old. A pupil at St. Colmcille’s Nursery School in Downpatrick, Anna’s warm and infectious smile would light up any room.

The little girl who lives near Tyrella and celebrates her fifth birthday this July loves nothing more than playing with her classmates.

But Anna is strikingly different from them and has been through more trauma in her young years than other people experience in a lifetime.

Anna was born with only half a heart and within hours of being delivered at a Belfast hospital she was taken by air ambulance to the Birmingham Children’s Hospital for open heart surgery. Everything went well, with little Anna spending five hours in theatre.

Today she loves nothing more than being with her classmates and playing at home with big brother Jack (9) and sister Ellen (7).

Last week was Congenital Heart Disease Week and Anna and her nursery classmates all wore something red to school on Friday.

They also brought along a small donation to raise funds for the Heartbeat charity which is spearheading its own fundraising initiative to purchase a children’s MRI scanner for the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children.

Anna’s mother Edwina said she was grateful for the efforts of Anna’s classmates and pupils at St. Colmcille’s Primary to raise some funds for Heartbeat.

“Our family owes so much to so many people,” said Edwina. “We have been able to rely on fantastic medical staff and we can’t thank them enough for what they’ve done for Anna and us.”

Edwina explained Anna’s condition was diagnosed during one of her pregnancy scans which resulted in a meeting being arranged with cardiologist Dr. Frank Casey 23 weeks after conceiving.

“My pregnancy progressed as normal and there were no complications. As soon as Anna was born she was connected to a special machine to help with her breathing. Four hours later, she was on her way to Birmingham,” Edwina explained.

“Anna has been through three operations, with the third one last November which went very well. We were initially told she could be in hospital for six weeks, but Anna was home after 11 days.”

Edwina said while Anna will never have energy levels that would enable her to climb a mountain, “she is a happy child and you wouldn’t know to look at her what she’s been through.”

Mrs. Tumelty said her family cannot thank the medical staff involved with Anna’s care enough, explaining that from the moment her daughter’s condition was diagnosed, she received great support.