Brave boy, 3, dies while 'fighting to the end' after being born with half a heart

A three-and-a-half-year-old boy has heartbreakingly died in hospital, after originally being born with half a heart.

Little Louis Smith tragically had a cardiac arrest on July 28, which ultimately affected his brain, and he died shortly after. The "true warrior" was born with just two heart chambers instead of four, on January 3 2022.

Louis, from Widnes, was on the transplant list for a new heart, which meant he would've lived a fuller life. He also had numerous surgeries throughout his life to try and prolong his years.

"On the 20-week scan of the pregnancy, they discovered that it's much more complicated," said dad Josh Smith, 24.

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"He basically had half of a heart, but we obviously carried on with the pregnancy. Throughout his life he had numerous surgeries which sort of tried to help and prolong his life."

Louis was transferred to Alder Hey Children's Hospital shortly after he was born. Josh's dad said he "couldn't even count" how many surgeries Louis had, and the youngster had a pacemaker installed to help with his heart.

His most recent surgery was to fit a new wire to his pacemaker, which was working exactly as it was supposed to. "But before he had that surgery he had a cardiac arrest which caused some damage to his brain, which sort of took him away from us," Josh said.

Louis spent eight weeks in hospital before he tragically died. He fought with incredible strength, but his heart couldn't fight any longer, a friend wrote on a GoFundMe appeal.

Josh added: "He was strong all the way through, and he did fight 'til the very last minute. We were very proud. He was a good lad.

"He was the best person you'd ever meet. You could be as sad as anything, but as soon as you walk into a room with him, you just couldn't not smile. He's just a lovely person. He was a really, really good kid."

Josh said the he and his partner, Ellie Atkinson, 23, had to stay strong for Louis throughout his life. His overall feeling over the past few years was "just love", he said.

It was strange having to go through the numerous surgeries and hospital visits, he said, especially because Louis was just a young boy and he didn't deserve any of it. He said: "It was a lot of just 'Okay, this is what we're dealing with... let's just deal with it the best way we can do."

It helped that the entire family had a great experience with the team at Alder Hey. Little Louis loved it at the hospital, because there was such a strong bond with the staff.

"He loved the attention of being in hospital because obviously everyone had to do everything he wanted them to do, when he wanted it," said Josh. "He actually really enjoyed it for the time that we've been here, and we've probably been in hospital at least half of his life."

Louis' family and friends launched a GoFundMe to help with funeral costs and a memorial, in order to give him the send-off he deserves.

You can donate to Louis Smith's funeral and memorial GoFundMe here.