The father of a baby-girl who was diagnosed with multiple holes in her heart has praised her resilience and strength just days after birth.

On July 13, 2023 Ella Grace McKellar Tomkins was rushed to Royal Berkshire Hospital just six days after being born after it was noticed that she was struggling to breathe.

The family, including Alan and Natalie Tompkins and their other three children, have since been through a heart-breaking journey of uncertainty as they navigated their daughter's condition.

Alan Tompkin, who is the owner of Red Terrain Landscaping in Bracknell, said: “It’s just so devastating going from being ecstatically happy when she was born to six days later being terrified that we could lose her.

“Whenever we called the ambulance they didn’t think there was anything wrong but I had a feeling that something wasn’t right and sure enough when we got to Royal Berks the crash team was brought in and she was resuscitated.

“They were saying that all her organs were shutting down because there wasn’t enough oxygen getting to them and that Ella would need to be transported to Southampton to see specialist consultants.”

Alan has described the journey to Southampton Hospital as one he will never forget, as he waited 45 minutes for the ambulance to arrive by blue light. 

Despite happening during the doctor's strikes, the family has praised all the consultants and nurses who took care of Ella during her surgeries and procedures which kept her alive.

He explained: “There were three top consultants in the ambulance from Oxford who transported Ella down and when we were rushed into the PICU in Southampton Hospital we were greeted by another set of specialist consultants.

“At that time they told us that they didn’t know if Ella was going to survive as her condition was so bad but she got one-to-one 24 hour care with high-tech equipment the whole time.

“It was so horrible to see that there were so many wires coming out of her with so much medicine going in but the doctors and nurses were incredible.

“After they did all the tests and scans, Ella was diagnosed with coarctation of the aorta alongside hypoplasic arch and multiple VSDs.”

During their stay at Southampton Hospital, the family received support from the Ronald McDonald Foundation and the Friends of the PICU charity.

After multiple surgeries to fix the holes in her heart and other defects, Ella has now been diagnosed with an aneurysm on her aorta which is currently being monitored.

“She is just such a fighter,” Alan said. “She grew stronger and stronger but had a few setbacks which we were told may happen after undergoing such a big operation.”

To raise money for the Friends of PICU charity at Southampton Hospital, the 36-year-old father of four will be competing in the Southampton marathon on April 7.

If you wish to donate money to the Go Fund Me for the Southampton-based charity click here.