Twelve months ago Whitney Allison and her partner Troy Dunn cradled their fragile and seriously ill newborn in their arms never expecting to celebrate their little boy’s first birthday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Marcus was born with half a heart, hypoplastic left heart syndrome, and doctors told his parents he would most likely die.
How wrong they were.
On Saturday Marcus will celebrate his first birthday in style surrounded by almost 50 friends and family members who will help celebrate the milestone event.
“We are so proud, he has come such a long way,” said Ms Allison.
“It has been a tough 12 months for the entire family, particularly spending so much time in Sydney away from everyone.”
Marcus’ diagnosis came after an ultrasound when Ms Allison was 24 weeks into her pregnancy.
Doctors told her things did not look good and she and Mr Dunn had three options, to terminate the pregnancy, delivery at term and hold Marcus until he died or deliver him and opt for high-risk surgery.
The Rutherford couple opted for the surgery even though specialists said there was a low survival rate.
“We wanted to give our baby a chance at life,” Ms Allison said.
“Some are still saying his life expectancy is 20 to 30 years but there are always medical breakthroughs and 20 to 30 years is a long time so who knows what advances will be made during that time.
“We’re now pretty confident he will live a long and normal life,” she said.
Over the past 12 months Marcus has been in and out of hospital battling infections and more recently a gastro bug.
Each time he has bounced back stronger and continues to astound the country’s leading paediatric heart surgeons with his grit, determination and courage at such a tender age.
The Allison and Dunn families have put together a special slideshow for Marcus’ birthday documenting the highs and lows of the past 12 months.
“It will be something for him to look back on and see just how far he has come along and how he continued to beat all the odds,” Ms Allison said.
Marcus is now doing so well that doctors have cut back his medication and his medical check-ups.
He will travel to Sydney for another round of surgery in 12 months and will continue with six monthly check-ups with cardiologists in Newcastle.
“Troy and I are very happy and so overwhelmed that our little boy is doing well and that we have actually have him here with us and our family to celebrate his first birthday.”
