Ryan Marquiss is surviving by being born with his heart out side his body and doctors had no hope on his survival, but tried their best to save his life. Usually, the baby with this defect either stillborn or die soon after birth. Another, impossible rare condition that Ryan had and he had only half of the heart-a combination of defects. This condition of having heart outside the body is called ectopia cordis.

Doctors advised his parents at the stage of 12 week of pregnancy for termination since they felt there was no possibility of his survival for which his parents declined and allowed him to grow and let him in nature’s course.

The rare condition ectopia cordis affects about eight percent of birth in every million births and ninety percent of them are stillborn or die soon after birth.

Mrs.Marquiss and Mr. Henry, parents of Ryan in Pennsylvania said that every thing seemed against Ryan’s survival and his incredible rare condition of having half a heart threatened his survival as soon as he born.

Doctors at Children’s National Medical Centre in Washington assisted by 30 medical professionals did the surgery for his birth at the end of February 2009.

Dr.Mary Donofrio, Director of the fetal heart programme at the Children’s National Medical Centre said: “If he survived the birth his exposed heart likely would become infected and kill him. Even if infection didn’t happen his heart had one working ventricle and he would require open heart surgery to rewire the blood flow through it.”

However, Ryan had undergone about 12 surgeries so far and his heart protruded outside was put inside the body and his blood flow was streamlined by various surgeries like shunt and his survival is a medical miracle till now.

Ryan, now is progressing well, play and behave normally like other children and however he requires a heart transplant in the future- said medical experts.