A father who lost his two-year-old son to congenital heart disease before he could have a life-saving heart transplant took part in the British Heart Foundation’s 54-mile bike ride on Father’s Day – nearly 40 years after completing it for the first time – saying he did not know how much British Heart Foundation would mean to him “so many years on.” Andrew Pullen, 49, a school caretaker, and his wife, Alison, 50, fell pregnant with twins in 2001, but it was a complicated heterotopic pregnancy – one baby was growing in the fallopian tube so had to be surgically removed.
The other baby, Kieran, was “lucky enough” to survive, and was born on 25 November 2002 – however, he had tetralogy of fallot, a combination of four congenital heart defects that need surgery to treat “otherwise he would’ve died very quickly”. When Kieran was less than 24 hours old, he had his first open heart surgery, which Andrew said “felt impossible” at the time – the surgery was a success, but he had to have five heart surgeries to keep him strong enough to have a heart transplant.
Despite Kieran’s “little body” fighting “so hard throughout his life”, in the final surgery, Kieran never gained consciousness and, after a few days on life support, he passed away at two years old. The family “buried (their) little boy very close to home” so he is “always near” and continue to “miss him every single day.”
Andrew and Alison, who are from Surrey, have since gone on to have two more children, Tyler, 17, and Logan, eight, as well as their first-born, Abby, 23, but admit it was a “very worrying time” as they feared they would have complications similar to Kieran’s. Now, Andrew is determined to raise vital funds for the British Heart Foundation, and participated in their 54 mile bike ride, with his friend, Glenn Hammond, 34, on Father’s Day 2023, raising over £1,200.
He “wished” Kieran could have been there to “greet (him) at the end” but knows he was with him “throughout the whole cycle.” When Andrew’s wife, Alison, fell pregnant with Kieran, in 2001, she suffered a complicated heterotopic pregnancy – one baby was growing in the uterus and another baby in the fallopian tube, so Kieran’s twin had to be surgically removed halfway through her pregnancy. The procedure was so rare that Alison was documented in medical journals – Andrew said: “It was a very worrying time, there was a risk that we’d lose both children.
“We were lucky enough to save Kieran, and the rest of the pregnancy was okay.” Kieran was born on November 25 2002, in Worksop Hospital, but, moments after, he started making unusual grunting noises, which was the first warning sign of him having tetralogy of fallot, a combination of four congenital heart defects that need surgery to treat.
Andrew said: “We didn’t know until Kieran was born that there was anything wrong with him. We were still in the delivery room when a midwife noticed he was making some strange grunting noises.
“The team jumped into action and Kieran was quickly seen by a paediatric intensive care unit doctor who referred him to a specialist heart hospital as they found a problem with his heart. They told us he needed immediate treatment otherwise he would’ve died very quickly – it was terrifying and shocking to hear.”
Kieran was less than 24 hours old when he had his first open-heart surgery, to increase the blood flow to his heart as the narrowing of one of his valves was causing issues. Andrew said: “He was so small and the thought of him having the surgery felt impossible.
“I think we were all over the place – our families came up to visit him and support us. It was such an emotional time, we didn’t know whether he was going to survive.”
Kieran stayed in the hospital for several weeks under observation, and Andrew’s wife, Alison, lived in the hospital accommodation to be as close to him as possible. Andrew said: “When we did eventually get Kieran home, it felt so good. Even though the surgery was remedial and we knew he would need more, it was just bliss having him home.”
Kieran had a total of five heart surgeries to help keep him strong enough until he would be eligible for a heart transplant, which sadly he never got to, as during his final surgery to widen his pulmonary valve, Kieran’s body began to fail and he never regained consciousness. Andrew explained: “Kieran was more ill than we had anticipated – he spent a couple of days on life support which was absolutely harrowing for us.
“Kieran’s little body fought so hard throughout his life.” Sadly, Kieran passed away on August 24 2004 – Andrew said: “We buried our little boy very close to home, so he is always near us.
“We miss him every single day and visit him regularly.” Since then, Andrew and Alison have had two more children who were carefully monitored throughout the pregnancies.
Fortunately, both of their sons and older daughter Abby do not have a heart condition. Andrew said: “We had worries in the back of our mind when Alison got pregnant again – we made sure to have extra tests to make sure everything was okay and monitored Alison a lot more.
“It was a very anxious time and pretty worrying – we didn’t know if it would happen again.” Now, Andrew is keen to raise funds for the British Heart Foundation to help their research into heart and circulatory conditions.
So on Father’s Day he took part in their 54-mile cycle from Clapham Common to Brighton Seafront, which he completed in around six hours, with his friend, Glenn Hammond, 34, who has a son at the same school that Kieran attended. Andrew first participated in the ride when he was just 16 years old, and said: “It’s crazy – little did I know how much the charity would mean to me and the rest of my family so many years on.”
This time around, Andrew’s family were waiting for him at the finish line.
To donate to Andrew’s fundraising page, visit: justgiving.com/fundraising/andrew-pullen7
