AN IRVINE mum has told how her baby girl died twice after having open heart surgery at just one-week-old.

Four-month-old Summer Black was born with a potentially fatal heart defect – Total Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Return (TAPVR) – and had to be brought back to life twice after having lifesaving surgery when she was just seven-days old.

The condition meant Summer’s heart was not getting enough oxygenated blood and without surgery, she would not survive.

Just days after she was born Summer’s devastated parents Amanda Carson, 26, and Brian Black, 25, watched helplessly as medics at Crosshouse Hospital told them their baby was being transferred to Glasgow’s Royal Hospital for Sick Children.

Amanda said: “I had a normal pregnancy. Nothing was picked up in my scans and Summer was born on December 14.

“When they came in to do the routine hearing screening they noticed her colour was off and further tests showed her oxygen levels were low.

“They put her in an incubator and done further tests then said she would have to go to Glasgow’s Royal Hospital for Sick Children.

“That was really scary. Summer was in the ambulance and Brian and I were driving behind them.

“They took her straight to see the cardiology team. They came back after a while and told us she would need open heart surgery because she was not getting enough oxygenated blood to her heart. We couldn’t believe it. She was only a few days old.”

The couple, from Dickson Drive, braced themselves for the gruelling 10-hour surgery and prayed their baby would make it.

Amanda said: “That part was so scary, walking down that corridor to take her to theatre knowing you are putting your baby into the care of strangers and her life is in their hands and there’s nothing you can do.”

Summer survived the surgery, but the couple faced further trauma when she suffered two cardiac arrests and a collapsed lung.

Amanda said: “She was on a ventilator after the surgery and had two cardiac arrests when they tried to take her off it. Twice they had to resuscitate her because she was gone and it took four attempts to bring her back. It was terrifying.

“A week after the second cardiac arrest her lungs collapsed and she had to go back on to the ventilator.

“It was one step forward, 10 steps back. At one point I felt so hopeless I said to Brian, ‘We are just never taking our baby home, I don’t think she’s going to make it’.

“She had been so poorly and lost so much weight but the doctors were amazing. one of them actually said ‘We are going to do everything we can to get you home with your baby’.

Finally, six weeks after she was born, Summer was allowed to come off the ventilator for good and was gradually weaned off all her medication.

The tot was finally allowed home on February 19 – more than two months after she was born and has been thriving ever since.

Amanda added: “It’s scary enough being home with a brand new baby, but with everything she has been through it was very overwhelming. But it has been great to get her home and get in a routine with her. Looking at her you would never guess what she’s been through or how close we came to losing her.”