Five-year-old Reggie received a guard of honour from nurses on Ward 1C as his family walked off the ward to go home after spending 11 weeks at Alder Hey after heart surgery.
Reggie was born in February 2021 with hypoplastic right heart syndrome, an extremely rare condition which means the right side of his heart had not developed fully. He was also diagnosed with pulmonary and tricuspid atresia, an atrial septal defect and patent ductus arteriosus, all of which affect how blood flows through the heart and to the lungs.
Reggie first came to Alder Hey shortly after he was born. In March 2021, he underwent surgery to create a central shunt to increase the flow of blood to the lungs and improve oxygen levels.
Reggie spent 61 days in hospital during that first admission, including 40 days in Intensive Care. For 10 of those days, he was supported by ECMO, a specialist treatment that temporarily takes over the work of the heart and lungs.
In April 2021, Reggie was able to go home for the first time since he was born but returned to Alder Hey in October that year for the next planned stage of surgery to support the flow of blood to his lungs, called a Glenn procedure. His second admission was shorter, and he was home again within a month.
Since then, Reggie has faced further challenges, including a five-centimetre difference in the length of his legs and global developmental delay. He is also currently on the assessment pathway for autism. Through everything he has faced, his family say his smile has remained.
In May 2026, Reggie returned to Alder Hey for his final planned stage of surgery for his heart condition called a Fontan procedure.
11 weeks later, nurses from Ward 1C lined the ward to give him a guard of honour as his family walked out to go home. For Reggie and his family, it was an emotional goodbye to somewhere that had become a second home over the previous five years.
Reggie will now enjoy a well-earned rest before returning to school in September with, as his family explained, “fresh battle scars and a new story to tell”.
The experience has also influenced his dad’s plans for the future, inspiring him to pursue a career in paediatric nursing.
Reggie’s dad, Mason, said: “The bond that my partner, Reggie and I have formed with all the nurses on the ward is something we will cherish for the rest of our lives. They truly are the kindest, most caring and loving people we have ever met.
They are the reason I am planning to go to university, either next year or the year after, to become a paediatric nurse.”
Mason, Reggie’s dad