A newborn girl with a rare heart condition had to be taken to three different hospitals before she was finally able to get care from a surgeon at New York's Columbia Presbyterian Hospital.
Baby girl Navy Caroline Dumont, born to navy man dad Jeremiah and mom Kristen last weekend, was just minutes from leaving the hospital in the upstate New York town of Malone last weekend when one last test sent her parents into panic.
"They just said they found an anamoly, and had to immediately transfer to another hospital," said Kristen Dumont. "It kind of felt like the world was crashing down around you."
Doctors discovered total anomalous pulmonary venous return, a rare heart defect that affects blood oxygen flow.
"When you walk in and see a two-day-old baby girl with tubes in her nose," said Jeremiah, crying as she recalled the image.
Navy was rushed to Burlington, Vermont, in search of a surgeon. Ultimately, Boston Medical Center sent a life-flight to bring her to Columbia Presbyterian.
Kristen and Jeremiah left Burlington with only $100. They arrived in New York with no place to stay and no change of clothes. But they do have hope.
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Doctors are aiming to perform open-heart surgery on Navy next week. But she wouldn't be in New York had their hospital in Malone not started testing for the condition just recently.
"It's a small hospital, but they caught it. They saved my baby girl's life," said Jeremiah.
Back in their small hometown of 6,000, Malone neighbors are rallying to raise money through a GoFundMe page and even a chairty softball game.
As for the name Navy, her dad wears it with pride.
"She's definitely living up to the name. You can't sink the U.S. Navy and you can't sink her, she's an absolute fighter."
