Real reason boy struggled to breathe for over half his life
A young boy who from the age of two began to struggle with his breathing must now undergo major surgery after being misdiagnosed by doctors.
Marley was just two years old and had a lingering cough, which his parents didn’t think much of until a few years later when it got considerably worse.
The young boy was eventually diagnosed with asthma, the treatment for which was expected to help him breathe.
Unfortunately, Marley’s condition kept getting worse and his father Jay Enjakovic wanted to get to the bottom of it.
Mr Enjakovic explained that his son was playing football and basketball and his health “went downhill pretty quick”.
“He couldn’t run out his games, coughing a lot more, bringing a lot of food up, bringing water up every time he ate,” the worried father said on The Today Show.
Then, together with his wife Skye, the pair were determined to find out what was wrong with their son, who was struggling for more than half his life.
The now eight-year-old was in and out of hospitals when his condition turned critical in December 2021.
X-rays of Marley’s oesophagus and trachea were done and it was there the family were shocked to be told that their son possibly had tracheoesophageal fistula.
Tracheoesophageal fistula is when the oesophagus is connected to the trachea which makes food, drink and saliva enter from the trachea.
Doctors were ready to do a surgery on Marley but were unable to due to the inflammation.
They then decided to do another X-ray, which is when they were even MORE shocked to see that something was in fact lodged in the young boy’s throat.
“A few hours later I received a phone call to meet his surgeon at recovery where they pulled a piece of plastic, an arts and craft plastic flower, from his airway,” Ms Enjakovic said.
“I honestly couldn’t believe it! This was the whole cause of everything! I was relieved I finally had an answer.
“We are unsure how long this price of plastic was lodged in his airway, but my guess is at least five years as that’s when we started noticing small issues, which became worse over time.”
The flower has since been removed and Marley is due to undergo further surgery to help repair the airway and oesophagus.
Images: The Today Show