Becoming a parent is one of life’s greatest joys. Before the big day, you picture yourself holding your baby in your arms the first time. But in our case, the first thing we did was sign do not resuscitate papers.

Born at just 26 weeks, Agathe weighed just 770 grams, a little less than two grapefruits.

She was so sick, her medical team told us she would likely die in the next few days.

Miraculously, Agathe survived those first few days and was able to undergo a CT scan. The images showed malformations of both the pulmonary artery of her heart and her trachea. She would need a delicate surgery, but we had to wait for her to put on a little weight.

Except, nine days after her birth, Agathe went into respiratory distress. It was the worst-case scenario: her trachea was obstructed, and she now had to undergo extremely risky emergency surgery.

Despite the dire prognosis, we decided to give our baby a fighting chance. Dr. Sam Daniel, pediatric otolaryngologist, quickly earned our trust. The surgery was a success, and further proof of our little girl’s will live!

Soon after, her trachea blocked again. She needed a second emergency surgery.

You can imagine our distress. The odds were stacked against our little Agathe, and we really didn’t want her to continue suffering.

But Dr. Daniel was on his way and he still had hope! Having consulted with his colleagues in the U.S., he wanted to try a novel surgical procedure. Hearing our concerns, Dr. Daniel assured us that unless he was sure it would be a success, he would stop.

That moment was the turning point. We instinctively understood that Agathe’s will to survive was joining forces with the Children’s outstanding culture of innovation, where seemingly unsolvable medical issues are surmounted thanks to ground-breaking solutions.

Your donations make this possible.

You help bring everything together in a state-of-the-art hospital: equipped with ultrasophisticated machines and staffed by multidisciplinary teams working hand-in-hand with world-leading specialists. You give them the ability to act quickly when faced with exceptionally complex cases like Agathe’s.

Your support truly saves lives!

At five months, Agathe underwent open-heart surgery, as well as an operation on her windpipe. The 12-hour surgery led by Dr. Daniel and Dr. Pierre-Luc Bernier, had never been performed in Canada on such a tiny baby.

In January, Agathe came home, in time for her first birthday. This was an incredible gift. Since then, she never ceases to amaze us with her resilience and determination. She’s funny, she plays with everything, she babbles and scoots around on her bum.

In all, Agathe underwent 18 surgeries. She’ll have to have one more on the pulmonary artery of her heart. She’s still being monitored by several specialists at the Children’s. We don’t know what the future holds, but we have hope. And we treasure every little moment.

Agathe’s life has been touched by dozens of medical professionals at the Children’s, who provided unparalleled medical expertise and who truly listened and welcomed us as partners in care. Agathe’s triumph is your triumph too.

Thank you for giving our little girl and other children who are gravely ill a chance at a healthy future.

Mathieu and Annick, Agathe’s parents