3-YO Child, Who Once Spent 700 Days in the Hospital, Dies | She Took Her Last Breath in Her Mom’s Arms

Valentina Garnetti, a three-year-old girl who made headlines for spending over 700 days in the hospital because of a heart abnormality, has died.

Garnetti's mother Francesca announced the devastating news on Facebook. "This is the hardest post I’ve ever had to make. My life will never be the same. Valentina took her last breath this morning in my mom’s arms," she wrote. 

Francesca wrote that she gave her daughter CPR until first responders reached their house. She said Valentina was taken to a local hospital where medical staff tried to perform CPR on her for over an hour before pronouncing her dead. 

"My baby fought so hard for so long and her body was just tired. The world is a sadder place today. I’ve never felt a pain like this," she further shared. "I don’t know who I am as a person without Valentina. She was my whole life. She made me a better person and she’s shown the world what a true miracle is."

"Valentina’s love was a different kind of love. She had the brightest sparkle in her eye and the biggest, most perfect smile. She truly loved everyone she met. I hope she knows how much she was loved back. I loved Valentina more than anything in the universe and her two sisters did too," the grieving mother shared. 

Just hours before the tragic update, Francesca had posted asking everyone to pray because her daughter was not breathing and had no pulse, reports Fox 29 News. 

Valentina was born May 1, 2019, with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a congenital cardiac abnormality. After two years in the hospital, she was finally able to go home for the first time in her life in March 2021. But even after being discharged, she kept going in and out of the hospital. 

According to the National Library of Medicine, hypoplastic left heart syndrome is fatal and causes about 25% to 40% of all neonatal cardiac mortality. Francesa told Fox Television last year, "She was missing a left chamber of her heart. But luckily for us, I was able to hold her for an hour, which is a really long time, before she needed any intervention, and then they [hospital staff] took her away." 

At such a young age, Valentina underwent six surgeries, out of which four were open-heart surgery. "She has just had complication after complication after complication. So everything that could go wrong went wrong in Valentina’s case," her mom said.

Each year, the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 1,025 newborns in the United States are born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome.

"She’s a fighter. So everything that she went through has brought us to this point," added her mom. 

A GoFundMe campaign has been created to help the family out with funeral expenses. 

References:

https://www.fox29.com/news/toddler-who-once-spent-nearly-700-days-in-hospital-for-heart-defect-dies

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100035382952063

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4663985/

https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/heartdefects/

https://www.gofundme.com/f/npw2g-funeral-expenses-for-valentina?

Cover Image Source: Facebook | Valentina's Journey