A Helensburgh boy who spent 320 days in Royal Hospital for Children (RHC) is celebrating his first birthday at On August 26, 2023, Roseann Singleton welcomed River Stephen Camile Mbunzama and everything seemed fine. However, in the early hours of the following day the wee showed challenges with breathing and feeding. He was rushed to the RHC where he was diagnosed with an atrial septal defect in his heart, two small heart holes and Tracheobronchomalacia, which is a rare condition where the windpipe tissue is unusually soft and weak.
The boy, from Helensburgh, spent 11 months in the hospital including multiple stints in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and paediatric intensive care unit (PICU). River underwent more than 20 procedures to help treat his condition. For parents Roseann and Rudy, the past year has felt like one step forward and ten steps back.
Every celebration was often met with a new reality. The mum said: “I remember when River graduated from NICU to the Special Care Baby Unit in December followed by his first proper bath. The little things were massive to us.
"Unfortunately, we ended up back to NICU days later due to River catching a virus, which could have been critical. He only spent two days in NICU then got moved to the PICU on the 17th of January where he stayed for 12 days. “Soon after, we had another positive milestone moment.
We saw River without any respiratory support for the first time. Seeing his full face again was beautiful. However, fo.