Baby Born With only Half a Heart Survives

A baby who was born with only half a heart survived the first few weeks of her life, according to BBC News.

Sophie Maxwell was born with a rare condition called hypoplastic left heart syndrome - a congenital heart condition that leaves the heart's left ventricle underdeveloped to the point of inexistence. Five days after being born, she underwent open heart surgery and survives. However, Sophie is still required to undergo two more operations and a heart transplant later on.

Sophie's mother, Kerry Anne, 27, said: "'Despite everything she's been through, she's a really happy little baby. If it wasn't for the tube she still has, you wouldn't know there was anything wrong. I think the oldest living person with Sophie's condition is 21, so that does give us a glimmer of hope that she could live for another 20 years or more, but we're treasuring every moment we've got with her. The surgeon who operated on Sophie said he always thinks, where there's life, there's hope" and he's right," she added.

Kerry Anne and husband found out about Sophie's condition during a routine 20-week scan and their doctor advised them to consider terminating the pregnancy, according to the Daily Mail. "I did consider terminating the pregnancy for a minute, because I had to consider what kind of quality of life Sophie was going to have, but we decided that if Sophie was going to fight on, so were we," Kerry Anne said.

On August 20, Sophie was born weighing eight pounds and nine ounces at Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary. She was later transferred to the Children's Heart Unit where she received specialized care. Now, Sophie was finally allowed to go home with her parents and two older brothers, Nathan, three and Joshua, seven.