Birthday boy keeps up pace

Brynley and Suzanne Crosado are delighted with the progress of son Alex. Picture / Greg Bowker

Alex Crosado has had an eventful week leading up to his seventh birthday.

It started as normal, off to attend the last week of term at Wakari School.

It then took an unexpected turn through aircraft, ambulances and operating tables in Auckland.

But Alex hopes it will end back in Dunedin with a bit of birthday cake and Easter eggs today.

The battling Dunedin youngster was born with heart problems and his latest setback involved an emergency late- night flight to Auckland to replace a broken pacemaker.

His parents, Suzanne and Brynley Crosado, who were with their son all the way, were delighted he came through the latest operation so well.

The journey began on Monday when Alex collapsed at the gates of Wakari School.

He was taken to Dunedin Hospital where it was decided to transfer him to Starship hospital for emergency surgery.

A Life Flight plane arrived at Dunedin airport at 10.30pm on Monday to fly Alex and his parents to Auckland.

"The pacemaker hadn't been working well for about a week," Mrs Crosado said.

"It was a harrowing experience seeing him having trouble breathing and looking so tired."

On Tuesday afternoon Alex underwent a 2 1/2-hour operation to fit a new pacemaker. The old pacemaker had been in his body since he was three months old.

Mrs Crosado said Alex had come through the operation well and was playing Playstation in his bed.

The pacemaker leads go to his heart while the pacemaker is in his stomach.

"It broke basically because he was being a boy. The leads were rubbing against each other. He has a tendency to use the pacemaker as a base to help him when he's climbing."

Alex has had five operations on his heart, and one for a hernia, but he sees himself as a normal boy. Doctors have yet to decide when he will go home.

"It won't be too bad if we can't get home for his birthday," said his mother. "With the school holidays he was going to have his party a bit later anyway."

- OTAGO DAILY TIMES