‘Miracle’ Baby Is First In UK To Survive Being Born With Heart Outside Her Body

Little Vanellope Wilkins has become the first ever baby to survive being born with her heart outside her chest.

The newborn has been dubbed a ‘miracle baby’, after surviving her first surgery, which took place less than an hour after the birth at Glenfield Hospital in Leicester.

Doctors say Vanellope is now making good progress, much to the relief of her parents, Naomi Findlay and Dean Wilkins.

Naomi and Dean had been warned by medical staff Vanellope had less than a ten per cent chance of survival and the parents knew the minutes after her birth were crucial.

The 43-year-old builder, and proud new dad, recalled her birth:

We were holding our breath, waiting for her to take her first breath. We didn’t dare breathe until she took her first breath.

When she cried, we cried. Twenty minutes went by and she was still shouting her head off — it made us so joyful and teary.

Vanellope’s due date was Christmas Eve, but the couple’s little festive miracle came somewhat early when doctors at Glenfield Hospital, in Leicester, decided to deliver her a month prior by caesarean section.

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