This past spring, Britini and JC Apuada had three perfect weeks at home with their newborn twins, Oliver and Eloise.
But, when JC went to pick up their two-year-old son from daycare in early May, that all changed.
“Britini called out for me, and I came around the corner and she handed me Oliver,” the father said.
“He was blue and losing colour. I checked for a pulse and I didn’t feel any so I just started CPR.”
Oliver was in cardiac arrest when they called 911.
The Apuada family holds their infant son outside of an Edmonton hospital.
Courtesy JC Apuada
The tiny baby boy was rushed to the Stollery Children’s Hospital in Edmonton, where he is now in the pediatric cardiac intensive care unit, or PCICU.
“It’s just your worst nightmare as a parent is to have your child in that situation,” Britini told Global News.
“It seems like we’re still kind of living through a nightmare,” JC added.
JC is a paramedic. His wife, Britini, works at the Stollery in the lab. She’s currently on maternity leave.
Oliver shows off his VAD while waiting for his heart transplant.
Courtesy: JC Apuada
The family said Oliver has had six episodes of cardiac arrest in the three months since he’s been in the hospital. No one knows why it keeps happening.
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At two months old, Oliver had open heart surgery and doctors placed a VAD: a mechanical pump which will give him time until a heart donor can be found.
“I think the hardest part for us is just not knowing why,” said Britini.
“The doctors have done all their testing and we have no real answers as to what was wrong with his heart or is wrong with this heart.”
They’re hoping a family will make the difficult decision and say yes to organ transplantation, but they also understanding the gravity of their reality.
“In order for Oliver to get better, there would have to be another family out there that would have to suffer much worse than we already have,” JC said.
“It’s bittersweet. Of course we want our son to get better and unfortunate that you know (on) the other side of things, there’s a child that won’t be making it,” Britini added.
“We were so close to being on the other side of it so we’re thankful that organ donation is a way out for us.”
Oliver, Eloise and Theodore in the Stollery Children’s Hospital.
Source Apuada family
Wait times vary greatly from just days up to three years.
Dr. Simon Urschel is a pediatric cardiologist and the director of pediatric heart transplants for Western Canada at the Stollery Children’s Hospital.
“They’re basically struck by lightning,” he said about the families waiting for a donor heart.
“They have a plan for a normal healthy life and suddenly something happens and instead they’re dealing with life-or-death decisions.”
From British Columbia to Manitoba, there are 12 children currently on the transplant wait list, and five, like Oliver, are in hospital with a mechanical pump keeping them alive.
Inside the pediatric cardiac ICU at the Stollery Children’s Hospital.
Source Apuada Family
Urschel adds although it’s a difficult decision for a family to make to donate a child’s organs, it’s one that often brings family’s comfort.
“Most families, in my experience, if they are in this terrible situation, they appreciate the opportunity to donate,” Dr. Urschel said.
“People want to give the terrible thing that happened to them at least some sense by helping others.”
He said on both sides of the equation, transplantation can be an incredibly difficult time.
“It’s exhausting,” J.C. said. “It’s been a lot of uncertainty.
“It’s just hard to believe that this is our reality.”
The parents are no stranger to sick kids but never fathomed it could hit home like this.
“I think it’s ironic,” he added. “For the whole time that we have been in the work force, we’ve worked in health-care and doing things for other people.”
Now they are the ones who need help.
The Apuada family wants to thank the Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation and its donors after noticing that on the side of much of the equipment Oliver uses, has a sticker, saying it’s there because of community donations.
“Oliver wouldn’t be where he is now if it wasn’t for the machines and the hospital that we’re in right now,” he said.
The family has also started a GoFundMe in an effort to help pay for expenses, and to support them while they are both off work.
“This is a huge strain, not only emotionally and physically, but financially,” said Britini. “We just want to be able to focus our time with Oliver at the hospital.”
The Apuada family is now in a holding pattern, hopeful they will be able to bring their young son home soon.
To register to become an organ donor or for more information visit GiveLifeAlberta.ca
Baby Eloise and Oliver share nap time.
Courtesy JC Apuada
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