By Matthew Sims
Western suburbs mother Bronte Santos said she still feels “quite blessed” that she gets to wake up to her son Arlo’s smile every morning after a long battle with hypoplastic right heart syndrome and a number of other complications.
“He is literally a walking miracle,” she said.
Arlo is one of the ambassadors for the 2023 Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH) Good Friday Appeal and visited the Hoppers Crossing fire station for a special tour on Friday, March 31, receiving the honour of being named an honorary member of the fire brigade.
Arlo’s parents Bronte and Romi discovered there was something wrong with his heart at their 23-week ultrasound scan, with the scan showing Arlo’s heart had not fully formed on the right side.
Just six days old, Arlo was taken to the dedicated Koala cardiac ward and four days later, he was rushed into his first emergency surgery.
At four months, Arlo was discharged following his open-heart surgery and a long stint in hospital, but was rushed back to hospital only three days later for his second major surgery after his oxygen saturation plummeted to 30 per cent.
While his surgery was deemed successful, Arlo faced another setback, suffering major complications and then receiving a diagnosis of suspected bacterial meningococcal meningitis.
Bronte said while Arlo was still suffering PTSD and anxiety, he is now happy and healthy.
“He’s really thriving now,” she said.
Bronte said she was grateful for each day she spends with Arlo.
“I don’t sweat the small stuff,” she said.
Arlo was scheduled to have his next and final surgery within the next year or two.
Bronte said the support from the Royal Children’s Hospital was invaluable.
“We are eternally grateful for the countless times the RCH has saved our Arlo,” she said.
“I’m just so grateful that we have such a world-class hospital so close to us.”
Details: www.goodfridayappeal.com.au
