My Story - Chris Skinner (Survivor)

Hello, my name is Chris Skinner; I am 24 years old, and I was born with a Left-Sided Diaphragmatic Hernia.

When I was born it was a joyous moment (as expected), but more so as I was one part of a set of twins; but unfortunately my twin had been miscarried earlier in the pregnancy. But when I was born it was a complete surprise to everyone what was to come, as no complications had been picked up during any of the scans. The only reason anyone knew something was wrong is because I came out blue, unable to breath; I was immediately put on Life Support.

It was later discovered that I was born with a Left-Side Diaphragmatic Hernia, and being 1994 not a lot was known about the condition; my parents were sadly told to hold me, as I was undoubtedly going to die; they still have the photograph that the nurse took of me to remember me by... At the time, my stomach and intestines had pushed it's way through my Diaphragm during development, and had crushed one of my lungs, they had also moved my heart under my armpit (twisting it in the process).
I was very swiftly moved by police escort to Oxford (from Reading) to be taken to a pediatric hospital.

When I was 24 hours old my parent were informed that a Chinese Surgeon was in the UK for a few days to showcase a new Surgery that he had developed - a surgery that rectified Diaphragmatic Hernia with amazing success. He was informed about me, and he immediately came to my rescue; I was the first extremely lucky person in the UK to be given this revolutionary new surgery to correct Diaphragmatic Hernias, which ultimately saved my life; leaving me with one lung and a heart murmur.

This wasn't the end though; unfortunately as I was put on life support at such an early stage my brain had discovered that if it wanted to stop breathing and take a rest, it could because the ventilator would take over. As a result for 4 years I suffered from Apneas, at it's worse happening about 20-30 times a day; my brain would just stop me from breathing and had to be shocked back into motion - otherwise I would undoubtedly die. This was a great burden for my parents, and the stress definitely took its toll but they were strong and vigilant and never let their guard down.

During my early years I was introduced to Professor Southall, a now disgraced professional, but to me a hero. He helped me and my parents stop the Apneas, allowing me to develop as a normal child.

I have developed as a normal person since, I evenly had a chest x-ray when I was 16 and discovered that my missing lung (that was technically left as a ball of Stem Cells) had developed into a strong and healthy lung, meaning I am perfectly healthy now (albeit having a heart murmur)...

At 17 I suffered form full body alopecia, so I am now completely bald.

I am now 24, I am getting married in October to my best friend, and I work as an Engineer. I am completely healthy and am looking forward to talking to and potentially meeting people that have/had CDH. I would also be very interested to discover if CDH is potentially hereditary.

Thank you for taking the time to read my story!