Texas teen with rare heart condition celebrates 15th birthday after 18-hour surgery 

Matthew Perez, who not too long ago turned 15, had a terrifying expertise final September whereas attending a college occasion. Nonetheless, due to a profitable operation to deal with a uncommon congenital coronary heart difficulty, the Texas teen is having fun with his new age.

He instructed  Good Morning America, “Me and my buddies have been taking part in round and I used to be operating, however then I began to really feel very drained and off. It was like, I used to be gonna go out. I might hardly breathe. My listening to was form of muffled and all I might [see] was, like, this purple form of haze.” 

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As quickly because the Houston ninth grader’s buddies realized one thing was actually mistaken, they referred to as his mom, Arely Perez, who hurried to his college to obtain the terrifying data.

After he fell, they took Perez to an area hospital earlier than transferring him to Texas Youngsters’s Hospital, the place medical doctors identified him with an irregular aortic origin of a coronary artery, or AAOCA.

Arely instructed the outlet, “He’s not the child to say one thing’s mistaken with him or he feels sick, so for me to get that textual content saying Matthew’s asking so that you can come, I knew one thing was mistaken there.

“We had no information of him ever having a coronary heart drawback. Since he was born, to us, he was a wholesome child. Every thing was regular up till this occurred to him in September.”

Dr. Silvana Molossi, medical director of the Coronary Artery Anomalies Program at Texas Youngsters’s Hospital, highlighted the severity of Matthew’s situation, calling it a number one explanation for sudden cardiac arrest and demise in younger people.

Molossi defined, “In Matthew’s case, his left coronary artery had an irregular origin from the precise aspect. Matthew’s coronary heart suffered vital lack of blood stream and oxygen when he collapsed in school. If he hadn’t been rushed to Texas Youngsters’s Hospital and gotten rapid therapy, he could not have survived.”

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Because of the severity of his situation, Matthew was positioned on an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machine to help his coronary heart and lungs. 

In October 2024, he underwent an in depth 18-hour surgical procedure to appropriate the problem by repairing his left coronary artery and reconnecting it to the right location within the aorta.

Regardless of the complexity of the process, Matthew’s restoration has been outstanding.

“He does have a graft in his artery, however every thing is bettering the best way that it ought to,” Arely stated of her eldest son’s progress. “Everyone was amazed on the hospital, like, how rapidly he was therapeutic and popping out of this example that would have taken his life.”

Now again dwelling, Matthew is returning to actions he loves, comparable to taking part in the guitar and viola.

“I’m so grateful to be right here and so grateful that I had good individuals in my life who have been in a position to assist me and act rapidly after I wanted it,” Matthew remarked.

His mom hopes sharing his story will increase consciousness about recognizing warning indicators of potential coronary heart situations.

The involved mom suggested, “Look out for these indicators that he stated—the blurred imaginative and prescient, that he can’t breathe, the ear muffle. As a result of on the finish of the day, you by no means know. It might be nothing, however [it could also be] indicators of one thing [that] may not be proper.”

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