I am Isla's Great Aunty and Godmother. I was with Ali at one of her early scans, that revealed Isla had a serious heart condition. It was devastating news for Mike & Ali and the start of the heartache and anxiety to follow. They sought the best place to give birth (in the UK) and even moved home to give Isla the best chance of survival at birth. They had a great team of surgeons around them at the birth of Isla and thankfully she arrived without incident. Their relief was temporary and as the months progressed (after regular check-ups at their local hospital in the UK), they were becoming more and more anxious as to when the surgery would be performed. Isla was doing well considering her condition and the surgeons didn't want to operate until the benefit outweighed the risk. At every hospital visit, they were told it may be soon. It was like waiting for your baby to become poorly, before being given the chance to get better. Mike & Ali are not the sort to sit around waiting and Ali started to search for the best surgeon (for Isla's condition). At one point, she even typed in a search engine 'the best children's AVSD surgeon in the world' and Doctor Hanley's name came up. Ali then researched Doctor Hanley further, which led to them contacting Stanford Children's hospital. Once the surgery was agreed, Mike and Ali's anxiety took a different turn. They were now handing over a 'seemingly' well little girl for major heart surgery. Ali spoke with Nurse Staff on many occasions, who detected her anxiety and reassured her that all would be well and Isla would be in safe hands. I remember the day of the surgery like it was yesterday. I was many thousands of miles away but wanted to be with them in spirit, so I visited my local church every day until Isla left the hospital. I would like to thank Doctor Hanley, Nurse Staff and all their dedicated team for the amazing work they have done and for giving Isla and her parents a new lease of life, for which we will be eternally grateful.