THE BABY WHO SHOULD HAVE DIED - article about Victor Chang from 1976

An incredible article from the National Library Australia’s Trove archives.

“I was only 7 years old but I still distinctly remember my father coming home and telling me that he’d operated on a baby who had a hole in her heart. I had plenty of questions back then and I’m still amazed by surgeons who are able to operate on such tiny hearts.” Vanessa Chang

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/51603649/5790905

In triumph and relief, Mrs Betty Martin beams at her tiny daughter, who is now gaining strength and weight in a Sydney children's hospital. At right, with husband Terry. The fight for baby Emma's life began five months ago.

THE BABY WHO SHOULD HAVE DIED TINY

Emma Louise is a born fighter. She came into the world last September, 12 weeks premature, weighed 0.96 kilograms (21b 2oz) and had a hole in her heart. The skill of a surgeon and a

paediatrician, dedicated nurses, and her young parents' love kept Emma alive. She was smaller than the average child's favorite doll and as light as a loaf of bread when she was wheeled into the theatre for life-or-death surgery.

A leading Sydney surgeon - he was part of the three-man team who performed Australia's first heart transplant – closed the hole that was causing the trouble.

Emma Louise (her names mean "energetic" and "famed fighter") pulled through the operation, but the battle for life was not over. Post-operative complications set in. Emma had respiratory trouble, too. Several times in the first few days of her life she had stopped breathing, so doctors put her on a respirator.

But here was one little girl who wanted to live . . . and everyone was on her side. Sister Anne, a Catholic nursing nun and matron of St Margaret's Children's Hospital in Sydney, summed it up: "We pray for all our babies here, but there were special prayers for Emma Louise. I've been at St Margaret's, first the maternity hospital and now the children's hospital, since January, 1937, and I can't remember such a special little baby. It was a miracle she survived."

The surgeon. Victor Chang, said: "She was so very tiny that my instruments seemed far too big for her.

"She would have died without the operation and yet her chances of surviving it were slim. Surgery alone did not save baby Emma. Most of the credit must go to the excellent care of the nursing staff. They gave her 24-hour attention."

Emma's paediatrician (whose name cannot be published for ethical reasons) agreed that the nursing care had contributed greatly to the baby's recovery. "The child was close to death many times and often I thought we'd lose her." he said. "Her parents have been through absolute hell."

Perfectly formed

Betty Martin. Emma's 25-year-old mother, is all smiles now but her face clouds when she talks about her baby's fight for survival.

For Mrs Martin and her husband Terry, the ordeal began early on September 18, at their Warwick Farm home unit.

"I'd had bad back pains the day before, and wasn't worried because the baby was not due until December. But I woke about 4am and suddenly knew I was in labor.

"I was frightened and hysterical. 'Oh, my God', I thought, I'm going to lose my baby'."

But even then. Emma was a tighter. When she was born in Bankstown District Hospital she was a good healthy color and, in spite of her tiny size, was perfectly formed. That gave Mrs Martin hope.

She did not see her child for a week; then mother and daughter met through the walls of a humidicrib in the intensive care ward at St Margaret's, where Emma had been taken after she was born.

"She was such a bright little thing and she was all mine. I thought she was beautiful."

But all the time there was the acute concern about Emma's breathing problems: and then the doctors found a heart murmur.

'The way I reacted when they told me they would have to operate," said Mrs Martin, "was quite funny. I’d been crying day in and day out ever since Emma was born but when I heard this news I went into shock. I was calm and numb. I didn't feel anything." So, at 13 days old. Emma underwent heart surgery. It was the longest day of the Martins* lives.

When told later that the upper lobe of Emma's right lung had collapsed, Mrs Martin again responded with outward calm.

"So much was happening, I think I was immune to any more shock. Then, about a
week after the operation, she had a funny turn. Her temperature soared and the heart monitor went berserk.

"I almost gave up hope then. All I could think of was that she was going to die. I
kept saying it over and over again. 'She's going to die, she's going to die'."

The relapse passed the next day, and from then on it was a slow and often
doubtful road to recovery for Emma. Gradually she grew stronger and gained
weight. The final hurdle was overcome just before Christmas when she was weaned off
the respirator.

At long last, on January 14, after just on 17 weeks. Betty Martin knew the joy every mother feels when she holds her baby for the first time. There were tears of happiness and relief in her eyes as she cradled and fed the little bundle.

Emma Louise now weighs around 2.5 kilograms (51b 8oz). Any day her parents will take her home to the crib that has been empty so long. Sister Anne's prayers have been answered.

Story, GILLIAN CHALMERS

Pictures, KEVIN BROWN