Heartwarming moment brave little girl is woken from FOURTH open-heart surgery by Disney princess

Heartwarming moment brave little girl is woken from FOURTH open-heart surgery by Disney princess
Chanel Murrish was born with half a heart - but continues to defy doctors three years later
Chanel Murrish, aged three, was born with half a heart - but continues to defy doctors.

Just one week from the major surgery at Newcastle’s Freeman Hospital she is now “drinking cups of tea like an old lady”, her proud mum Fay Murrish told the Chronicle Live .

Chanel experienced a “rocky few days” after the procedure, needing to go back into theatre for complications including multiple organ failure and fluid build ups throughout her young body.

But now, the youngster is guzzling tea “by the gallon” from her hospital bed at the Children’s Heart Unit, is off dialysis and is determined to recover with her sights set on going to nursery.

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Brave Chanel was woken by her favourite Disney princess (Image: Facebook)
Fay, of County Durham, said: “The first thing she asked for when she came round was a cup of tea and since then she’s had the nurses making cups of tea for her night and day.”

Asked before her gruelling surgery what she wanted, brave Chanel’s one wish was “to be kissed awake by Rapunzel”.

Her wish came true — courtesy of Newcastle company Be Your Guest — as the Disney princess of Tangled surprised the delighted toddler at her bedside on Saturday.

Although she is still in hospital, Chanel is hoping to start nursery in October.

The youngster has been in and out of hospital her entire life (Image: Facebook)
Fay says nursery staff have been “massively supportive”, adding that she will have one-to-one teaching.

She said: “Chanel can’t wait. If it was up to me, I’d keep her home forever, but she is such a sociable child that it’s only fair to her.

“She wants a normal life and that’s what she’s fighting for.

“If she is strong enough, the plan is for her to start at the nursery at her brothers’ school.

“The other children will start in September, and then I will take her in once they’ve settled in.”

Chanel continues to defy the odds after being born with half a heart (Image: Facebook)
Photos of the toddler trying on her uniform were posted on the ‘Chanel Murrish HLHS’ Facebook page, where the inspirational battle has been documented by mum Fay.

Babies born with half a heart, a condition known as Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS), usually need three open-heart surgeries.

But for Chanel it’s even more severe because she was born with an additional problem, an intact atrial septum.

She is now the oldest-surviving child in the UK with both these conditions and, despite four operations, she will eventually need a heart transplant, although the chances of getting a suitable organ will have increased by the time she reaches adulthood and can have a full-sized heart.

Because of her heart defect, Chanel received all of her oxygen in the womb through the umbilical cord, so when she was born and this was cut she turned blue due to lack of air and was rushed into surgery.

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The tot was first operated on just one minute after her birth (Image: Facebook)
The operation meant the newborn is now in the Guinness Book of Records as the youngest open-heart surgery patient — performed just one minute after her birth.

After two more open-heart surgeries, the youngster even managed to learn to walk, overcoming the effects of a stroke and while living with Cerebral Palsy.

Chanel’s loved ones have raised thousands for the children’s heart unit in the Freeman Hospital while looking after their two young sons and brave daughter.

Fay, who won a special recognition award for her efforts at the Pride of the North East awards, has now nominated Chanel for the Chronicle Champions Child of Courage Award.

Praising her daughter’s “strength and determination”, Fay added: “She is the biggest inspiration we have ever known, and teaches everyone around her to always have faith.