Riley McDowell’s Story
Riley Daniel McDowell was born on the 9th May 2001. The centenary of Federation! The day before he was born, an ultrasound picked up an abnormality and we were transferred from The Angliss hospital to Monash Medical Centre. When we say that the birth was the most traumatic thing we’ve ever experienced we aren’t kidding!!
Four days later he underwent surgery at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, to rectify a narrowing of his Aorta (coarctation of the aorta). In October of that same year he underwent further heart surgery, (this time open heart), to alleviate a narrowing within the heart itself (sub-aortic stenosis). During this procedure, heart tissue was damaged (a necessary risk) and Riley was fitted with a permanent pacemaker.
Both surgeries were deemed successful by the medical staff, (in particular Dr. Christian Brizard), an outcome we readily agreed with! There are so many ways to say thank you for the gift of Riley to our family, and this is how the book, ‘I Can See Angels’ came about.
In between his two operations we were fortunate enough to have him home and one night I was holding him up in front of me and his eyes were fixed on a point above and behind me. His face broke into a huge smile and he just started chuckling! I turned around to have a look at what was there and couldn’t see anything. My wife Julie wandered over and asked what was going on and what he was laughing at. An off the cuff remark from me about him laughing at the angels behind me turned into a book called I Can See Angels. Sponsors came on board and donated everything needed to print it so that 100% of monies raised went to assist research into heart disease. The book is still available through HeartKids. Get one, it’s a great read!
Nothing that happened to Riley at birth was either his fault, our fault, or in fact anybody’s fault. It was just what happened. We are very open about the fact that we are a Christian family and acknowledge God as our strength during this whole time. Our church family supported us in ways that truly blessed us and it is no coincidence that our faith got us through. I can remember sneaking a peek at the medical files on the end of Riley’s bed one day and reading this comment: “Mum, Dad, Ashlee & Sarah, are coping remarkably well during this lengthy hospitalisation, bringing calmness to a stressful situation’. Quite simply, our faith got us through.
Riley’s heart is showing no signs of repairing itself and the pacemaker now does all the work to keep his heart functioning. We envisage that it will need to be replaced within the next 12-18 months. We sometimes have our little ‘freak-out’ moments where it hits us that the only thing keeping him alive is a machine not much bigger than a fifty cent piece, embedded in his stomach area. But really, it’s a small price to pay to have our little man alive and with us. He is fully aware of it and of the impending need to have it replaced at some stage so it doesn’t worry him at all.
He is thriving at school, is easygoing, friendly. He loves to draw, watch Lano & Woodley, go to Auskick and LOVES his mighty Western Bulldogs. (He always has a football in his hand). He can, (and does), do everything that a normal little boy his age does….and more!!
Riley & his Dad
Written by Riley’s parents Danny & Julie McDowell, June 2008