Toddler born with dangerous heart defect who must have daily dose of Viagra says her first words

A baby born with a heart defect and kept alive with daily doses of Viagra has delighted her parents by saying her first words.

Cerys Small is always smiling because despite a shaky start in life she is finally on the road to recovery.

The 19-month-old toddler, was also born with no spleen and problems with her stomach and bowel. She is treated with daily doses of Viagra and took her first steps two months ago.

Cerys' is now 19 months old (right) and has rapidly improved after she had a throat tube replaced with a stomach tube. She had heart surgery at five months (left) to correct a number of defects

Relief: Cerys with her sister Megan and brother Evan as well as mother Kerrie and father Gareth. She has Viagra every day to help blood flow

She is now stringing sentences together after the feeding tube in her nose and throat was removed earlier this month. One of her favourite phrases is: 'I want to walk'.
Cerys’ parents Gareth and Kerrie both 32, said she has come on leaps and bounds in the past few months, especially since she underwent an operation to fit a feeding tube directly into her stomach on August 2.

Heart specialists are so impressed with her progress they say they do not need to see her for another nine months.

They also hope to eventually wean her off Viagra - most commonly used for treating sexual dysfunction in men - which helps her blood circulate around her body more easily.

Cerys Small when she was 10 months old after her condition had stabilised, with her sister Megan-Leigh and brother Evan

Mrs Small, from Newport, South Wales said: 'It’s lovely because people do not stare any more. She’s talking a lot more and wanting to eat more herself.

'She’s doing absolutely fab considering what the doctors told us she could be like. When I was pregnant the prognosis was grim, we didn’t even know if she would still be with us now.

'They advised us seven times to have a termination. She’s been through a hell of a lot in 19 months and she’s still got a long road to go down, but when you look at how she is now it makes you really grateful that we didn’t listen and we did carry on with the pregnancy.'

Doctor’s discovered Cerys had a hole in her heart during Mrs Small’s 20-week pregnancy scan and gave her just a 50 per cent chance of survival.
The toddler takes six tablets a day to manage her condition. She has proved she is a real fighter undergoing three open-heart operations all before she was five months old, and she continues to amaze doctors with her resilience.
Cerys, who has a brother Evan, eight, and sister Megan, nine, will eventually have to undergo more heart surgery in a few years’ time but for now the family are happy she is making good progress