Pregnant woman and son survive mother’s rare heart tumour

Sadie Stout is thrilled as she enjoys the company of her son, but just seven short months ago the young mother was forced into the toughest decision she's ever had to make.

Stout, 21, was six months pregnant when she was informed about the extremely rare tumour growing in her heart. Fearing the Thunder Bay native could die at any moment, surgeons at Toronto General Hospital decided to operate immediately.

"But they were unsure whether her unborn baby boy would survive the risky surgery," reveals Megan Ogilvie in the Toronto Star. "And they couldn't guarantee that Stout would live through an emergency c-section should she want to deliver her baby before they tried to repair her heart."

Stout had 24 hours to decide which life comes first and without hesitation, the first-time mother chose that of her son, Bentley.

"Seven months later, both mom and baby are giggling together in a sunny atrium at Toronto General," shares Ogilvie. "The sturdy toddler with brown eyes and downy hair weighs an impressive 17 1/2 pounds, something that makes his mother very proud."

Babies such as Bentley, born two and a half months premature, have approximately a seven per cent chance of dying, according to Ogilvie. Such babies also carry between a 10 and 20 per cent chance of long-term disabilities, including blindness, deafness, developmental delay and cerebral palsy.

Stout joyfully shares that she and baby Bentley show no signs of any significant health concerns.

"The baby underscores her statement by screeching and gleefully waving his pudgy fists," writes Ogilvie. "On Thursday, she (Stout) meets with Dr. R.J. Cusimano, the world-renowned cardiac surgeon at Toronto General's Peter Munk Cardiac Centre who cut the tumour from her heart and carefully rebuilt the organ. It will be the first time the two have met since Stout was discharged from the hospital in October."

Until he had met Stout, Dr. Cusimano had never seen such tumour in a pregnant woman. And as far as Toronto General can gather, there have only been 17 similar cases reported around the world.

Stout hardly considers herself a medical miracle, nor does she believe she was particularly courageous for putting Bentley's life before hers.

"I wanted him to have a chance to survive before me," Stout told the Star six months ago, insisting her choice was one any mother would make. "Today, it's still that way. Nothing has changed."

Bentley went home on December 5 a healthy boy. Matthew Blais, Bentley's father and Stout's loving boyfriend, had prepared the baby's nursery: painted baby blue, with glow-in-the-dark stars strewn across the ceiling.

Blais, 22, recalls the frightful moments when his son's petite, frail frame had the young father-to-be fearing the worst.

"And now, you don't believe it, looking at them, that anything was ever wrong," he shares.

Ogilvie finishes her piece with a beautiful anecdote.

"At this moment, Stout is cradling Bentley in her left arm, holding a bottle to his eager lips," she said. "It's hard to notice the thin white scar on her chest."