Lauren Nuttall, and her partner Joe Witty, were left devastated after the death of their son Ruben in April due to Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome. The couple, who live in Malton, now want to highlight the symptoms of the heart condition and also raise funds for the charities which have supported them. Lauren said Ruben was born on March 20 following normal labour with the family returning home three days later.
"We took Ruben back home and got settled in for the night. Ruben had been very sleepy all the time since he was born but no one raised any concern at the hospital. When we got home is when things took a turn, Ruben's breathing became rapid and he was struggling to breathe, we had a gut feeling something was wrong so we were on our way to York A&E - just 10 hours after we got him home.
"After hundreds of tests, cannulas, injections and everything under the sun being done to our beautiful boy, he was deteriorating quickly. "They had to give him oxygen and transferred him onto the children's ward, to try keep him stable whilst they tested to see what was wrong with him. Lauren added: "Watching him with wires coming out of everywhere and struggling was heartbreaking knowing we couldn't do anything to help him.
After 24 hours of being there Ruben deteriorated again and ended up being transferred to Leeds paediatric intensive care unit where they scanned him and found out he had a heart condition called Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, a very rare condition. "We were told R.