THE parents of an eight-month old girl born with a congenital heart defect are set for a two-month stay in hospital as she undergoes open heart surgery.

Emma Crook, 28, and her partner Paul Adams, 31, will accompany their daughter Seren to Birmingham Children’s Hospital on Saturday.

The young family, who live in Blackwood, will remain in the city for up to two months while their daughter recovers.

Miss Crook, a sales advisor currently on maternity leave, spoke of her devastation at hearing that her newborn had a defect known as Tetralogy of Fallot.

“I hadn’t heard of the condition before I heard that Seren had it so I just shocked and not knowing what it was made me feel quite alone,” she said.

“It was just devastating, to give birth was scary enough but to hear this was just so hard.”

According to Miss Crook, her daughter’s condition has done little to get in the way of her everyday life as a toddler.

“She’s just amazing, we’re so grateful that her condition hasn’t stopped her from growing into her personality or learning how to walk but now you can start to see a blueness around her lips so we know that the surgery has to happen now.”

Seren is set for her complex five-hour surgery on Monday, which will involve her heart being stopped and opened while a heart bypass machine takes over.

She will then be admitted into intensive care for 48 hours and will remain in the hospital until she is well enough to be monitored from home.

A further operation will be needed when she reaches the age of 20.

Before she goes home, Seren’s parents will spend the two months by her bedside at the parent accommodation, Ronald McDonald House.

Despite her situation, Miss Crook is keen to use it as a chance to raise awareness of congenital heart defects among newborns.

She said: “I just don’t want this to happen to anyone else, that feeling of being alone and not knowing what to do.

“It’s not nice to go through this on your own and I want to be able to support and help other parents like us.”

A fundraising page has been set up by a close family friend, Lyndsey Wright, to support the family while they remain in Birmingham.

Miss Wright, who has known Miss Crook since they were children, said: “Nobody should ever have to suffer in silence.

“Emma went from feeling completely alone in this to hearing that hundreds of people that she’s never met were supporting her.

The fundraising page can be found at http://tinyurl.com/jdkthyk