Parents of little boy from Malaga who underwent life-saving surgery in Madrid: 'It has been a success, he is a superhero'
The child with Down's syndrome, who suffered from a serious liver condition, has already been discharged from hospital after the three-hour operation
Romeo Martín Fernández - the two-and-a-half-year-old boy with Down's syndrome from Malaga, whose story SUR reported on 27 May - underwent a successful operation at Hospital La Paz in Madrid on 11 July. He suffered from a serious liver disease, which put his life at risk. His father Juani, 39, first shared Romeo's story through TikTok back in April. After months of concerns and worries, the boy has finally been discharged thanks to a successful intervention and the support of many people. "He is a superhero," said 38-year-old Tamara - Romeo's mother.
In our first article, we traced Romeo's health record. Despite his young age, the boy has been through a hospital ordeal since his birth. He underwent an open-heart surgery when he was barely six months old. He then suffered bronchiolitis, for which he was admitted to Hospital Materno in Malaga for 21 days. During this time, "his liver became inflamed and his lungs became waterlogged".
As a result of all this, the little boy developed portal cavernomatosis - a pathology of the portal vein, which carries blood to the liver. This vessel was obstructed and, as a result, a tortuous network of tiny blood vessels was formed. "The blood was not circulating to the liver as it should," his father told SUR back in May. "As the blood does not circulate well to the liver, it looks for other ways to get out," said Teresa. Romeo developed oesophageal varices. Doctors told his parents that he required an urgent surgery, because he could suffer internal haemorrhaging.
On Friday, 11 July, the child was admitted to Hospital de La Paz in Madrid, after continuous efforts from Malaga city's Hospital Materno, who had been taking care of the family since the beginning.
During the three-hour surgery, a Rex shunt was performed on Romeo, which allows the obstructed vein to be bypassed. "On Friday, 18 July, we were discharged, after daily blood tests and ultrasound scans to ensure that the blood flow to the organ was correct," said Juani. Romeo is now on antibiotics and heparin.
"This is a weight off our shoulders. We are very grateful to paediatric surgeon Francisco Hernández Oliveros and his team. Romeo is now doing great, as if nothing happened to him," said Juani Martín. Although Hospital de la Paz is a national reference in this type of surgeries, Romeo's case was more complex, given the rarity of his pathology, which has only been documented three times in the world so far.
The family expressed their gratitude to everybody who has been, in one way or another, involved with Romeo's case, as many people have been following the little boy's path and asking the parents how he is. Thanks to the surgery, there has been no talk of a liver transplant. "It's incredible how he overcomes everything," said Juani, proud of how his son has made it through this difficult time in his life.
