LONG ISLAND, N.Y. (WCBS) – A family says their newborn son is fighting for his life after he nearly bled to death following his circumcision at a New York City hospital.

Tim and Gabrielle Groth’s son, Cole, was born March 31 at New York-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital with a known heart disease. He had a stent placed days later.

“Everything was going really well. He was doing so well he was cleared for discharge,” Tim Groth said.

But that would all change after the hospital asked the couple if they wanted their son to be circumcised, a procedure many would consider routine. The Groths agreed, saying they were not told there were elevated risks for children with congenital heart disease.

The day after Cole’s circumcision was one of the worst of their lives, the couple says.

“I walk in, and he is extremely pale. He is crying like I’ve never heard before,” Gabrielle Groth said. “It was not my healthy boy I saw just the day before.”

“Throughout the night, for 10-plus hours, our son bled – almost to death,” Tim Groth said. “The vital organs of his body lost blood and oxygen, and he suffered liver damage, kidney damage, brain damage. How does this happen in a cardiac NICU [neonatal intensive care unit]?”

Cole remains in the hospital in critical condition, according to his parents. Tim Groth says his son undergoes daily transfusions and had four surgeries in the last week.

“Trying to understand how you could go from a circumcision in what seemed like a stable baby to crisis,” he said.

The Groths are now longing for the day they can bring Cole home to meet his older brother, 2-year-old Bryce. Until then, the family says they are continuing to pray, fight and be the best advocates for their newborn.

“I want him to know how strong he is and the strength he showed and how much he fought,” Gabrielle Groth said.

The hospital said in a statement it could not comment on the case due to patient privacy policies.

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