NHS<\/a> at that moment.\u201d<\/p>\nAt six and a half days old Ashby was deemed strong enough for surgery to repair the hole in his diaphragm and place his internal organs back in their correct positions.<\/p>\n
Sarah said: \u201cWe knew while he was on life support, he was at least safe. The wait for him to finish surgery was the longest time. When he came out of theatre the surgeon gave us the thumbs up, and my husband James just fell to his knees with relief.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing able to stay at Ronald McDonald House was such a help, we were so grateful.\u201d<\/p>\n
Following the operation Ashby remained on life support for several days while his parents, Sarah and James, waited to see if there were any other complications including brain damage. At three and a half weeks old Sarah and James were finally able to take Ashby home to Devon to continue his recovery.<\/p>\n
![\"Although](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/4_Pic-1JPG.jpg\")
Although there were no complications Sarah Edmonds’ pregnancy things quickly turned critical once her baby boy, Ashby, was born<\/p>\n
Ashby sees consultants from BRHC, twice a year and lives with lasting effects of the surgery including pectus excavatum, rib flare, and weakened stomach muscles. Despite the challenges Ashby faced in the early days of his life, with the support of his family, his local GP and consultants from University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust, and Torbay and South Devon NHS Trust, he has managed to live a normal life.<\/p>\n
He started swimming competitively when he was nine-years-old, encouraged by his mum\u2019s job as a swimming teacher. Ashby won his first county championship medal at 11, and over the past four years has won multiple competitions.<\/p>\n
This summer Ashby won his first national championship. He came first in the Men\u2019s 800m Freestyle for his age category at the Speedo Aquatic GB Next Gen Championship.<\/p>\n
He is now ranking in the top 10 nationally with hopes to compete internationally next year.<\/p>\n
Ashby said: \u201cI like the freestyle races the most. This year I have been able to compete in the 200m, 400m, 800m, 1500 and the Open Water races. I really hope to compete in Lisbon.<\/p>\n
\u201cSwimming is a very exposing sport, so lots of people ask me about my surgery because they can see the scars and my rib flare as well. But I just tell them what I had surgery for when I was younger.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe swimming community has been very supportive. I train with Mount Kelly Swim Squad and Torquay Leander Swimming Club and everyone looks out for each other. When I have my check-ups the doctors know I swim so they always make sure I can keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sarah added: \u201cFor us the memory of those early days is a trauma we carry with us, but we\u2019ve been incredibly fortunate. The NHS, our consultants, and his coaches have given Ashby the chance to thrive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Martin Gargan, clinical chair for UHBW\u2019s Women and Children\u2019s division said: \u201cIt is wonderful to hear of Ashby\u2019s swimming success after overcoming so much in his early life. Good luck for next season, Ashby, the teams at Bristol Royal Hospital for Children and St Michael\u2019s Hospital will be cheering you on.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"His condition had gone undetected during pregnancy scansAshby visits Bristol Royal Hospital for Children outpatients ward with his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":480059,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8818],"tags":[381,748,393,4884,211,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-480058","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bristol","8":"tag-bristol","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-nhs","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115332140496230764","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480058","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=480058"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480058\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/480059"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=480058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=480058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=480058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Ashby](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1_Media-32.jpg\")
Ashby visits Bristol Royal Hospital for Children outpatients ward with his championship medals(Image: UHBW)<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0_Ashby-next-genJPG.jpg\")
Ashby Edmonds in the pool<\/p>\n