Here's How This Girl Born With Her Heart Outside Her Chest Managed To Survive And Thrive

by N/A, 9 years ago | 1 min read

They call her the 'miracle baby,' and for good reason.

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Meet Audrena Cardenas. She was born with an extremely rare medical condition called Ectopia Cordis.

Ectopia Cordis is a heart condition in which part of or all of the heart develops outside of the chest cavity. With only 8 in one million babies born with it, it's certainly a rare condition.

Ashley, Audrena's mother, learned of her daughter's condition when she was just 16 weeks pregnant, in her second trimester.

Of the babies born with Ectopia Cordis, over 90 percent of them die within 72 hours of birth. Knowing how strongly the odds were against them, Ashley and her husband knew they needed a miracle.

Doctors had to perform open heart surgery on Audrena within 24 hours of her birth to amend her condition...

A miracle is what they needed, and a miracle they got!

After creating a cavity for her tiny heart, and covering it with skin from other parts of her body, surgeons were able to successfully complete the improbable procedure, and Audrena stabilized soon after.

After spending nearly 3 months at the hospital, the Cardenas' were finally able to take their resilient baby girl home.

She'll have to wear a chest-guard for the coming months to protect her heart, and will likely have to return to the hospital for additional procedures, but the worst part is over and Audrena has beaten the odds.

And despite the immense adversity she's already had to face, she's still one of the happiest babies!