A mum who raised more than £1.5 million to get her baby son to a specialist hospital in the US for life-saving treatment has announced the surgery was a success.
Jasmin Roberts has been in a desperate race to save her son, Ollie Williams, after he was diagnosed with a rare and complex congenital heart defect, causing serious issues that block his blood from being properly oxygenated.
Without specialist intervention – not available in the UK – he would begin palliative care: a prognosis Jasmin would not accept.
Incredibly, she was able to raise the huge sum, with donations including one of £10,000 from Hollywood’s Ryan Reynolds.
On Tuesday (20 January), she and Ollie arrived at Stanford Children’s Hospital in California, with Jasmin taking to TikTok to share the positive update with her 298,000 followers.
The mum, 24, from Wrexham, Wales said: “Yesterday, Ollie’s surgery was brought forward and he underwent his operation at Stanford.
“It was a long, brutal day, with the surgery itself taking over 11 hours.
“The surgery was a success!
“His team completed the unifocalization, repaired his VSD, and placed the shunt.
“This means that the most complex stage of his heart repair is now done.
“Ollie is expected to have stage two [surgery] in the UK in a few months’ time, which will complete his full repair.
“Ollie has actually done even better than his care team originally expected, and he is now recovering in the ICU.
“His colour has already started to improve, as have his oxygen saturations, which is so encouraging to see.
“The next few days are critical for his recovery, but his team have high expectations for him.
“I cannot put into words how grateful I am to every single person who helped make this possible.
“You quite literally helped fix my baby’s heart, and that is something I’ll never be able to repay.
“And Ollie, I am so incredibly proud of you.
“Thank you for being such a little fighter.
“I am endlessly lucky and grateful to be your mummy.”
Ollie was diagnosed with Pulmonary atresia with ventricular septal defect and major aortopulmonary collateral arteries (PA/VSD/MAPCAs) in September 2024, after a hospital check-up flagged his oxygen saturation levels were dangerously low.
The diagnosis came about incidentally, as the tot had been there due to prolonged jaundice – with no concerns beforehand about his arteries.
The defect means there are three major issues at play: a blocked pulmonary valve, a hole between the heart’s lower chambers, and abnormal arteries that supply blood to the lungs.
With the NHS unable to perform the first stage of the surgery required, Ollie’s only hope was making it to the US, where medics at Stanford Children’s Hospital were confident they could help.
“To say it has been torture is an understatement,” Jasmin, who works in customer support for a bank, previously told Need To Know of Ollie’s diagnosis.
“I was barely 23, physically recovering from a traumatic birth, and the one lifeline I had left was my baby.
“Suddenly, even that was being stripped away from me.
“He was so tiny in the hospital bed, and attached to so many wires that I couldn’t pick him up.
“I was confused and terrified.
“My entire world shifted in the space of seconds.”
The first surgery, which took place on Monday (19 January), will improve blood flow to his lungs, helping his arteries grow strong enough in the months that follow.
From there, Ollie will be ready for the full repair, which involves reconstructing the connection between the heart and lungs by gathering and connecting multiple collateral arteries into a single, unified pulmonary artery, and closing the hole in Ollie’s heart – which will likely be able to take place in the UK.
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