NHS trust agrees to give ‘life-saving surgery’ to British baby who has days to live following desperate campaign by his parents to get him out of Turkish hospital

The NHS has agreed to give life-saving treatment to a seriously ill British baby, making a U-turn after his parents’ desperate campaign to get him out of a Turkish hospital.

Adam and Eda Corin’s three-month-old son, Maverick, suffered heart failure and is in critical condition in Istanbul, where they live, with potentially only a few days left to live.

The child was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy, a rapidly progressive heart condition that requires specialist pediatric cardiac care, at Koç University Hospital.

Doctors in Istanbul say they do not have the expertise to perform the necessary surgery and that he must receive treatment on the NHS if he has any hope of survival.

This type of treatment is only possible in a few hospitals in the UK; But even though Maverick had a UK passport, his parents were unable to find any hospital that would accept him.

They spent £38,000 of their savings on providing an air ambulance, which was put on standby, and worked with global medical teams to get it to the UK.

But Maverick could not be moved without an approved pediatric cardiac intensive care bed in the UK, and none of the NHS trusts approached were willing to take it on.

But in a dramatic U-turn following today’s last-minute intervention by the Daily Mail, Maverick has been offered a place at Bristol Royal Children’s Hospital.

Doctors at Koç University Hospital treat little Maverick, who suffers from dilated cardiomyopathy

The hospital was initially reluctant to accept Maverick, but bosses have now changed their minds ‘following urgent review by a senior multi-disciplinary team’.

The family are now preparing to fly Maverick to England as soon as possible, with each passing hour the risk of Maverick becoming unable to fly increases and the medical team say this point could be reached in as little as two to three days.

He would then remain in Türkiye without access to the life-saving treatment he needed; So his parents are now racing against time, with Maverick in a hospital abroad and facing a narrow and closing window through which he can be safely repatriated.

Born in Devon, business travel consultant Mr Corin has lived in Istanbul on and off for about five years and married his Turkish wife Eda just over two years ago.

But he still has a home in Keynsham, near Bristol, his company is based in Britain, he remains a UK taxpayer and he keeps his National Insurance payments up to date.

The couple’s first child, Maverick, was born in late September last year. However, three weeks later he fell ill and as his condition worsened they took him to the hospital in Istanbul.

Maverick was taken to intensive care and a few days later doctors said he was suffering from heart failure. For the next ten days, Mr. and Mrs. Corin could only see him for five minutes each day.

The boy was given 12 different medications at one point before he began to improve, and his parents were allowed to take him home in early December, although he had to give a cocktail of drugs every two hours.

Maverick couldn’t be moved without a pediatric cardiac intensive care bed in the UK

The risk that Maverick will no longer be able to fly to the UK for treatment increases by the hour

On 28 December his condition deteriorated again and his parents called their local GP and told them to take him back to hospital, and he has remained in intensive care ever since.

Maverick’s condition has not improved, and Mr. Corin said his resting heart rate is now above 180 bpm, which has risen to as high as 240 bpm in recent days.

The family approached the local specialist centre, Bristol Royal Children’s Hospital, in a bid to save his life, based on Mr Corin’s address in England, but said they initially refused to take him.

Mr Corin claimed that an employee at the hospital told him Maverick could only be offered a ‘Group 2 donor transplant’, meaning patients who were critically ill but stable enough to wait a short time for a matching donor heart, and therefore there was a ‘0 per cent chance of a donor transplant’.

The Daily Mail contacted the hospital for comment at 9.20am today and received a response from Bristol NHS Group’s chief medical and innovation officer, Professor Tim Whittlestone, just after 1pm.

He said: ‘Following an urgent review by a senior multi-disciplinary team, we have agreed to admit Maverick as a patient at UHBW (University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust).

‘If he is able to travel safely our teams will do all they can to ensure he receives the best care possible. As always, our thoughts are with Maverick and his family throughout this process.

‘We understand the public interest in this case, but we must respect patient privacy and therefore cannot share any additional details or comment further.’

Maverick has a rapidly progressive heart condition that requires expert pediatric heart care

The family also referred to other NHS pediatric heart units, including Great Ormond Street Hospital in London and the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle.

Mr Corin said both hospitals told him they could help him, but Maverick had to go to Bristol Royal first to stabilize his condition before being moved there.

Another option suggested was government-funded access to a dedicated pediatric cardiac intensive care bed, such as the Portland Hospital in London, if an NHS bed could not be provided.

Mr Corin, who said he had recently been awake 22 hours a day to do whatever he could to help Maverick, also sought help from Parliament.

Health Minister Wes Streeting and Health Minister Karin Smyth were contacted yesterday for the Department of Health and Social Care to intervene.

Speaking ahead of the Bristol hospital’s U-turn, Mr Corin said: ‘There are two places in the UK that can provide life-saving treatment; Newcastle Freemans and my God.

‘They both said they should go to Bristol Royal first to stabilize it and then move on to one of the others. Both Freeman and Gosh said they could take it, but they had to be 100 percent sure of what he needed and when.

‘We are in the best hospital in Türkiye, but they neither have this life-saving machine nor accept baby heart donors.’

He added that management at Bristol hospital were ‘incredibly difficult and every day there was another reason why they couldn’t take him’, adding: ‘Also my home is close to Bristol and other NHS hospitals said he should go there.’

He added that despite his statements, Royal Bristol told him ‘they could not accept Mav without knowing whether he was entitled to NHS care’.

Maverick is receiving treatment in intensive care at Istanbul Koç University Hospital (pictured)

Mr Corin continued: ‘Everyone knows he is and it’s just pure NHS policy. Mav has a 0 percent chance in Türkiye, but every chance in England; How can they play with the life of a three-month-old baby on a piece of paper?

‘We will fly back as soon as possible because they will have no choice but to help UK soil. This is our only option. ‘He only has a few days left to live and we can see him getting worse every day.’

Following the hospital’s U-turn, Mr Corin gave a quick update, saying: ‘We have had calls from other NHS hospitals saying they would accept it. Bristol have just called to say they can now accept Mav, so we’re very, very happy.’

Matthew Wood, a case manager at global repatriation services firm Spark Medical, wrote to Mr Streeting and Ms Smyth asking for help and concluded: ‘This is not a routine transfer request.

‘This is a British baby suffering from critical heart failure, stranded abroad, facing a narrow, closing window through which he can be safely repatriated.

‘His family did everything they could: secure a plane, co-ordinate with international medical teams and follow the NHS in every possible way.’

The Rev. Danny Reed, a Methodist minister in Helston, Cornwall, and related to the Corin family, also joined the fray.

He contacted local Liberal Democrat MP Andrew George, who his office said was ‘extremely helpful’ in speaking directly to the Health Secretary and Home Office to get Maverick an emergency passport.

The Daily Mail has also contacted Great Ormond Street and Freeman hospitals, as well as NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care, for comment.