Mother Seeks £3 Million to Save Baby’s Life with Surgery in USA

A mother in the UK is urgently seeking to raise £3 million to save her baby’s life after local hospitals informed her that they can only provide palliative care. Jasmin Roberts, 24, from Wrexham, is fighting for treatment for her son, Ollie, who has been diagnosed with a rare and complex heart condition known as pulmonary atresia with ventricular septal defect and major aortopulmonary collateral arteries (PA-VSD MAPCAs).

Ollie’s condition was discovered unexpectedly during a routine check for jaundice when he was just two weeks old. According to Jasmin, a midwife referred them to a local hospital, where a routine screening revealed that Ollie’s oxygen saturation levels were critically low at 85%.

“Everything happened so fast after that,” Jasmin recalled. “One minute, there was just a nurse in the room, the next, a whole team of doctors appeared and rushed him down to the PICU.” The medical team initially suspected sepsis or a heart condition, but they could not conduct a scan until the following morning.

The diagnosis of Ollie’s heart condition left Jasmin devastated. “The diagnosis broke me,” she stated. “I felt like it was my fault, like I’d done this to him.” The emotional toll has been overwhelming for her as she navigated the challenges of new motherhood while grappling with severe postpartum depression.

Three different UK hospitals have informed Jasmin that they cannot operate on Ollie, offering only palliative care as an option. Determined not to accept this outcome, Jasmin reached out to Stanford Children’s Hospital in California, which is renowned for treating Ollie’s condition.

“When we were told Ollie was palliative, that nothing more could be done, I couldn’t accept it,” she explained. “I refused to just sit there and wait for my baby to die.” After extensive communication with Stanford’s international team, Ollie has been accepted for life-saving surgery.

The anticipated cost of the surgery exceeds £3 million, an amount Jasmin cannot afford on her own. To help raise the necessary funds, she has launched a crowdfunding campaign. “I would ask people to give anything they can to save my baby’s life,” she urged. “This isn’t about giving him a nicer life. It’s about giving him one at all.”

Jasmin emphasizes that the surgery is not merely a hope but a critical necessity. “The surgery that could save him exists, but for Ollie, it’s only available in America,” she said. She believes that the procedure could result in a full repair of Ollie’s heart, significantly improving his chances of survival.

Every donation, no matter how small, brings her closer to achieving the £3 million target. “Ollie is my best friend in the whole world. He’s everything to me,” she shared. “I wish people could see Ollie the way I do, not as a rare case, or a tragic story, but as a little boy who deserves to live a long, happy life.”

To support Jasmin and Ollie’s fight for life, donations can be made through her fundraising page at the following link: https://gofund.me/d81583780.

As Jasmin continues to advocate fiercely for her son, she hopes to raise awareness about the challenges families face in securing medical treatment for life-threatening conditions. Her journey speaks to the profound emotional and financial pressures parents endure while seeking the best possible care for their children.