Teen Mom star Cory Wharton, 32, discussed his youngest daughter Maya’s severe health issues in an exclusive interview with DailyMail. The reality TV personality and his girlfriend Taylor Selfridge have endured a difficult year while supporting their one-year-old daughter, who has tricuspid atresia, a congenital heart defect. Wharton and Selfridge survived numerous hospital stays and operations, and their love and devotion have been evident.
Maya’s parents learned in June 2022 that she had a congenital heart defect. Tricuspid atresia is an uncommon disorder in which the heart’s tricuspid valve does not develop normally, posing serious problems with blood flow.
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Little Maya had her first open-heart procedure in January 2023. This encounter, according to Cory, was “the hardest thing”. The strain and distress that came with watching their cherished child go through such a difficult treatment was very painful for the family.
“Life is amazing, all my girls are healthy and I’m just kind of pushing through the year,” Wharton told the outlet. “That was the hardest thing we’ve ever had to do in our lives, watch Maya go through open heart surgery, it was just very intense. It’s so rough.”
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Explaining the experience further, Wharton said, “Being at the Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles, the ICU unit is just like… I would talk to a doctor and then they would look at me and be like, ‘Hey, can you hold that for one second’, and this blue light would go on in the room next to us and that basically means, like, a kid’s heart stopped, so they have to go in there and resuscitate them.” He added, “It’s just like such a stressful environment. No one wants to be there, no one wants to see their kid in bed. None of us parents want to be there, it was just terrible.”
Everyone in the family has struggled with Maya’s health. Both Wharton and Selfridge had to divide their focus between Mila, 3, and Ryder, 6, while also helping Maya through her medical issues. Despite the challenges, Cory claimed that Maya’s health issues have made him and Selfridge more compatible. They have discovered strength in working together to overcome challenges and prioritizing Maya’s safety.
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“It was a lot on everybody, Mila went up to Seattle with grandparents, I didn’t see Ryder for like two weeks, so it was a lot on everybody, all the kids,” Wharton said. “I think everybody can agree we’re so happy to be moved past that experience, and we have one more open heart surgery that she’ll need in about two to three years, and then there shouldn’t be any other surgeries,” he added.
“We’re just happy to turn that chapter and move on, and she is doing great. She checks out all the doctor’s appointments, she’s passing all the little tests, and we’re just so happy to turn that page and start a new chapter,” he said as he gave an update on Maya’s health.
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Reflecting on the difficult journey he and Selfridge had to undertake for their daughter, he said, “No one else knows what we went through, we get to share that experience together – even though we might not like it.” He added, “And it just made me love her (Selfridge) even more and I think she could say the same for me. We just all put everything aside and made sure that Maya came first.”
Due to Maya’s remarkable post-surgery recovery, the family feels upbeat about the future. They are resolved to treasure every moment and feel delighted in their daughters’ health and happiness, even if they will need another open-heart surgery in the future.
References:
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