Reva Malvankar was born more than two months early and weighed less than three pounds. Within nine weeks she was close to death with a respiratory infection. In a final effort to save her life, her doctors gambled.
Employing a treatment never before tried on a baby so small, with Reva weighing 4lb 10oz at the time, doctors used a machine to take over her lung function. It extracted blood from her neck, adding oxygen and removing carbon dioxide before returning it to her groin, giving her lungs a rest.
The child celebrated her first birthday at the end of August and her family have shared her story to thank doctors at Evelina London Children’s Hospital and St George’s Hospital, Tooting, southwest London, who saved