A BASINGSTOKE mum has described the heartbreaking moment she nearly lost her baby to a rare heart condition.

Mother-of-one, Suzie Small, from South Ham in Basingstoke, has shared with The Gazette the day her now 16-month-old baby boy, Romeo Francis, nearly died.

Baby Romeo, born on April 5, 2019, weighing a tiny 4lbs 5oz, has been diagnosed with a rare heart condition – restrictive cardiomyopathy – which affects less than 1 in a million children.

He needs a heart transplant to stand a chance of survival.

And Suzie has since spoken out about the fateful day her baby boy suffered from a cardiac arrest on February 27, 2020, where he ended up fighting for his life at Southampton General Hospital.

Andover Advertiser: Baby Romeo needs a heart transplant to stand a chance of survivalBaby Romeo needs a heart transplant to stand a chance of survival

Speaking to the weekly newspaper about the ordeal, Suzie said: “He turned purple, floppy and completely unresponsive.

“The nurse said can we get some help round here and I screamed at the top of my lungs “HELP!” and they put the crash call out.

“I was screaming and crying ad could not physically hold myself up, Jimmy had to keep hold of me as my legs had completely given way

“Everything was a blur; all I could think was please do not let our baby die.”

Following the baby’s cardiac arrest, the family were ushered into a quiet room where the cardiologist informed them that Romeo had survived.

The cardiologist said that in his entire 27 years of working, he had never seen half of a baby’s heart go into complete heart block mid-operation.

Andover Advertiser: Baby Romeo at Southampton General HospitalBaby Romeo at Southampton General Hospital

Major surgery on Romeo’s heart involved chest compressions, defibrillator, oxygen, and a whole host of drugs to bring him back round.

The 16-month-old baby had one minutes worth of CPR and was woken up a couple of hours later.

A few days on from the ordeal, Suzie described her son’s recovery with “some little smiles” and “giggles”.

Overcoming the scare of nearly losing her child, she continued: “If anything the last couple of days has shown us just how precious life is, just how strong Romeo is and that no matter what new diagnosis gets thrown at us, we just want our baby boy with us.”