Indy hospital helps save baby with one-in-a-million heart defect

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - A little boy in Terre Haute has been living with a heart that's one in a million. And that's why, doctors say, it's a miracle he's alive. Doctors at St. Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis helped saved the boy's life.

To the naked eye, baby Joey Sanquenetti looks like every other baby, and to his mother, he’s perfect.

"He's a cuddly boy, he gives you hugs and kisses," Heather Roman, the 8-month-old's mother, said. "He's just happy to see you. I hardly ever hear him cry."

But on the inside, Joey is different.

Roman said within seconds of Joey's delivery, a nurse knew something wasn't right.

"The nurse - we have pictures of it - she was going through just checking for his heart beat everywhere. And that's when we realized. A half an hour later, they took him back and found the heart on the wrong side of his chest,” Roman recalled.

Joey's heart was not only on the wrong side of his chest, but it was also backwards, causing his heart to have to work extra hard.

"Normally your heart is on the left side and facing left. His is on the right side and facing right, and the arteries are all switched,” Roman said.

Doctors said it's a miracle Joey is alive.

A displaced heart is common, but the chance of having all three defects is about one in a million, doctors told Roman.

"It's just really hard to explain. You’re scared, you’re angry, you’re hopeful,” Roman said.

Joey hadn’t even been alive for more than 24 hours before doctors performed open heart surgery, put him on bypass and had to give him a blood transfusion.

"I mean a surgery like this - when we got all the bills tied up last time, were over $80,000," Roman said.

Wednesday, Joey will return to the operating table so doctors can replace a stint in his heart, which only means more medical bills for Roman.

But she said with the help of her family and friends she set up fundraisers for her son, so that Joey can get the help he needs.

Contributions to help Joey and his family can be made at Old National bank in Terre Haute. Roman says donations can be made out to Joseph Charles Sanquenetti.

To follow baby Joey's progress click on this link .