Support for Casey and Rhys Walkley after newborn Paddy undergoes surgery

Paddy was born earlier this month with a congenital diaphragmatic hernia, a hole in his diaphragm which allowed parts of his liver, bowel and kidneys to move up into his chest.

On Sunday night, just days after his birth, he underwent surgery at the Royal Children's Hospital to move the organs back below the diaphragm and place a patch over the hole.

His eldest sister Emma, 4, was born with the same condition but it is exceedingly rare to occur twice in the one family.

"Our surgeon at the Royal Children's Hospital said he'd never seen it before," Ms Walkley said.

"You'd think if you had been through it once you'd never have to do it again."

The congenital defect in Paddy's diaphragm was discovered just two weeks before his birth at 39 weeks.

Within a week of an ultrasound detecting the hole, Mr and Mrs Walkley had moved to Melbourne from Avoca leaving Emma and sister Mia, 3, in the care of their grandparents.

Mr Walkley had only recently started a new job and while his employer has been flexible, the separation from family and not being able to work has put a big financial strain on the family.

It's likely to be at least another month before the family can be reunited while Paddy recovers in hospital.

"Before he was born, they were hoping it would be a month or so but it all depends how he goes," Ms Walkley said. "They'll gradually wean him off (the drugs) and see how he reacts ... how he will cope. We just have to wait and see."

The couple know what lies ahead for Paddy and although the next few months will be tough, they are hopeful he will recover as well as his big sister did.

"You wouldn't even know there was anything wrong with her, which gives us some hope."

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It's not just the surgery that Paddy has to overcome.

He'll need to learn how to feed properly, because his misplaced organs prevented that and he was put on a naso-gastric tube for nutrition as soon as he was born.

While Paddy's CDH was detected at 37 weeks, Emma's was diagnosed even earlier at 32 weeks and the couple moved to Melbourne a month before she was born, then spent a month in hospital following her surgery.

Ms Walkley's sister Ashley Farnsworth has started a Go Fund Me to help support the family. "The fact that this family are facing this rare diagnosis for a second time is heartbreaking and will cause some financial burden for them as they navigate this path a second time," Ms Farnsworth said.

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