Galway family up sticks to UK save baby son who desperately needs a transplant

A young Galway family have had to up sticks and move to a UK hospital – so their baby boy can get treatment for a serious heart condition.

Luke Myles appeared a healthy lad when he was born to parents Lesha Comer and Cillian Myles six months ago. It was only after he had his regular childhood immunisations at nine weeks that his condition noticeably deteriorated.

“He was not feeding and was really lethargic, wanting to lie on me all the time. He was grunting a lot and when I took him to the hospital the only thing they could find was his heart rate was higher. They were going to send him home but after an x-ray it all escalated as they saw his heart was enlarged and he was rushed to Crumlin Children’s Hospital,” mom Lesha recalls.

“They originally told us we’d be there for one night, but we were there for a month. The second day was the worst when they told us how poor his heart was. His left heart ventricle should be pumping 30 per cent of blood and his was just six per cent.”

Luke was diagnosed with a condition called Dilated Cardiomyopathy.

His only hope of survival is to undergo a heart transplant. In Ireland his medical team in Crumlin could only offer him heart medicine which proved insufficient for such serious heart failure. Irish hospitals do not carry out heart transplants on children.

To donate, search Luke Myles Heart on gofundme.com

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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