Sarah's fighting spirit over 34 years is an inspiration

HIS DAUGHTER would live; he would make sure of it.

On the brink of despair, Bill Stringer planted himself in the middle of the hospital ward. He refused to move an inch until Sarah was given a chance at life.

“We were getting desperate: our daughter was dying,” explains the 72-year-old from Cricklade Road. “We needed to save her. Southampton Hospital were trying to cancel her open heart operation.

"I said 'I’m sorry you can get a concrete mixer and cement me here because I’m not leaving until it’s done'.”

Two days later, 27-year-old Sarah was wheeled into the operating theatre for her third open heart surgery.

Sarah, who was born with Down's syndrome and congenital heart disease was just two weeks old when she was placed in the care Bill and his wife Sandra, 71.

Their little bundle had been given just six months to live. But despite her severe condition, Bill’s ‘phoenix’ defied doctors’ prognosis. Soon they were celebrating her first birthday.

“She just continued to be on this earth,” the father-of-three smiles. “We were constantly going to the hospital because she had chest infections and the first three Christmases of her life where spent in hospital but she was a fighter.”

She was just two years old when she underwent major heart surgery to repair severally perforated heart chambers. The chance of survival was just 10 per cent.

Pacing the corridors of Bristol Children’s Hospital, her foster parents turned to their faith, praying for their daughter’s weak heart to hold out. After nearly 12 hours she was brought into the ICU.

“It was a miracle. She is a phoenix, rising again. Three valves were still problematic and we knew something would have to be done when she was older but there was nothing they could do at the time. Life went on. ”

Despite her failing heart Sarah thrived and her parents never allowed themselves to dwell on their fear of losing her.

Happily toddling about, she grew into a loving and extremely resilient child with a passion for music and performing. She attended The Chalet School and Crowdys.

Sarah had celebrated her 15th birthday when she was diagnosed with stenosis in 1995, a narrowing of the aortic valve which restricts blood flow to the heart. She was booked for her second highly dangerous open heart procedure in Birmingham. Despite the 70 per cent risk of her dying on the operating table, she had no other choice.

The young woman, who is now 34, pulled through once more and swiftly enrolled at Swindon College to study Life Skills. A keen actress, she joined The Partners, a Swindon- based theatre troupe for performers with learning difficulties.

“She always had high capabilities but her health held her back,” explains Bill, a retired catering manager. “We fought her corner and pushed her to reach her potential. She did everything she could with encouragement. She may get tired but she never gave up on anything.

“Despite everything she was bubbly and always happy.”

Always caring and devoted to her two siblings, Sarah put her nurturing nature to good use, volunteering at Fessey House, a residential care home.

Her heart condition often left her gasping for breath but the resilient young woman never allowed her health to defeat her.

Her unfaltering determination to live was tested once more in 2007 when at 27 she contracted infective endocartis, an infection that affects the tissue that lines the inside of the heart chambers.

She was rushed to hospital. Her parents were not prepared to be defeated by doctors’ pessimism.

“Sandra was told they would discharge Sarah and let nature take its course. But she told the consultant to get Sarah somewhere where they would treat her. She was in Bristol for a month on a cocktail of drugs and she pulled through.”

This setback prompted her parents to research new cutting-edge surgery to repair her damaged heart valves, and keep her out of danger once and for all.

“We searched ways to get the valvular problems sorted but doctors in Bristol were worried about the mortality rate; and they didn’t want to operate.”

By September 2013, her health had hugely deteriorated, she was wheelchair bound the majority of the time and prone to fainting and dizziness. When a visit to the GP revealed an alarmingly low heart rate and blood pressure, she was admitted to John Radcliffe.

“They realised her aortic valve could just go at any moment and that would be it. They couldn’t avoid surgery anymore.”

Few surgeons were willing to tackle such a perilous operation but a consultant in Southampton initially agreed to examine Sarah the following month. The surgery was pencilled in for November. But as the days and weeks went by, no date was confirmed.

Distraught, Bill and Sandra contacted their MP Justin Tomlinson. Sarah was eventually booked for surgery on March 2, 2014.

“It was matter of life and death. We were never disheartened but we kept thinking ‘What more can we do?’ When we arrived at Southampton they said they had been trying to contact us to cancel the operation. They were on black alert and they had no intensive care beds. We refused to leave. “They let us take her into the theatre. They repaired her aortic valve and did two other valves.

“We knew she was a fighter and we tried not to think about the negative. But the ‘what ifs’ were in the back of our minds. There was 90 per cent risk she wouldn't pull through."

After nine hours, Sarah was placed in a high dependency unit. Her lung collapsed but she gradually regained her strength and was allowed to return home. Last month, she celebrated reaching the end of her 18 months recovery period.

“She lives life to the full as far as she can,” beams Sandra, who along with raising her own children and Sarah has fostered 38 children over 40 years.

“She has a very strong fighting spirit. It’s all down to Sarah. She could have let it get her down but we have to focus on the future with confidence. Nobody thought she would make it to five years old, but she did.

“She is so inspirational. She shows us how life can be lived.”