Parenthood starts with aspirations — of tiny fingers entwined with yours, of first smiles, first words, first steps. It’s a path filled with love, sacrifice, and unwavering commitment. However, for some parents, this journey transforms into a struggle — one fought not for milestones, but for survival.
For Natalia and Kacper Balicki, that struggle commenced the moment their son, Leon, entered the world far too early and far too delicate.
He was born on September 7, 2023, at merely 32 weeks, weighing just 1050 grams — small enough to fit in his father’s hands. Yet, what terrified them most wasn’t his size. It was his heart.
Doctors delivered the heartbreaking news: Leon had a complex congenital heart defect, known as double-outlet right ventricle (DORV) with pulmonary venous obstruction — a condition so rare and severe that few children survive without immediate intervention.
For the Balickis, time stood still. “We were informed that our son’s heart wasn’t formed as it should be,” his mother remembers. “And that without surgery, he wouldn’t survive.”
From the moment he took his first breath, Leoś — as they affectionately call him — was battling for his life. Within hours, he was surrounded by machines, tubes, and doctors racing to stabilize him.
In the months that followed, his brief life became a whirlwind of hospital walls and operating rooms. Four open-heart surgeries, numerous cardiac catheterizations, and endless complications — including sepsis and pneumonia — became his new reality.
“Each time they took him into surgery, we didn’t know if we’d get to hold him again,” his father says quietly. “No parent should ever have to experience that fear.”
For eight long months, Leon remained in the hospital. He learned to breathe amidst machines, to sleep under the glow of monitors. His parents learned to interpret the rhythm of his heartbeats, each one a delicate miracle.
Finally, after months of waiting and praying, he underwent pioneering pulmonary vein surgery — a procedure that saved his life. It provided him with a chance. However, the doctors were candid: the journey ahead would be long, uncertain, and filled with more challenges. The surgery didn’t completely rectify his condition. Another operation, to repair his double-outlet right ventricle, is still pending.
For now, Leoś is at home, where love has replaced the hum of hospital machines — but the fear never truly dissipates. He still feeds through a feeding tube, his tiny body too weak to manage independently. He doesn’t yet sit, crawl, or walk, milestones most children achieve effortlessly. But what he possesses — what he’s had from the very start — is a spirit that refuses to surrender.
“He smiles every single day,” his mother shares. “Even when he’s exhausted, even when it hurts — he smiles. That smile is what motivates us.”
The next chapter of Leon’s journey involves rehabilitation, therapy, and countless specialist visits — to cardiologists, physiotherapists, and developmental doctors who monitor his progress. His parents’ greatest hope is simple: that one day, he’ll be able to run, play, and live without the fear that each breath might be his last.
But hope comes at a price. The treatments, travel, medications, and rehabilitation sessions that sustain Leon’s life and growth require resources far beyond what one family can manage. Every euro, every act of kindness, becomes a part of his heartbeat — another opportunity for tomorrow.
“We don’t know what the future holds,” his mother confesses. “We just know that we can’t stop fighting. Not when he’s fought this hard to stay with us.”
At just a year old, Leon has endured more pain than most will experience in a lifetime. Yet through every surgery, every setback, every night spent in sterile hospital rooms, he has continued to fight — not just to survive, but to truly live.
His heart may be flawed, but it beats with bravery. His body may be small, but his determination is immense.
And with love — and your support — his story doesn’t have to be one of fear, but of hope.
Because some heroes are born with scars instead of capes.
And little Leon is one of them — fighting every day for the chance to grow, to play, to live, and to love with the same brave heart that has carried him this far.
