Parents say thank you to Great Ormond Street Hospital for Louis' life

The family of a six-month old baby boy whose life was saved by surgeons at a world-renowned London hospital have held a fundraising event as a way of saying thank you.

Little Louis Mackay was diagnosed with Tetralogy of Fallot, a rare and complex disorder of the structure of the heart, before he was born two months prematurely at the Rosie Maternity Hospital on December 3, so his parents Ella and Jamie knew the family faced stressful times ahead.

"He had his first surgery at just two months old at Great Ormond Street Hospital when a stent was put in his heart to buy us time before open heart surgery. That was when they discovered he had another rare condition called Tracheal Stenosis, or narrowing of the windpipe, which was also going to need major surgery."

Unfortunately Louis' condition deteriorated and he was rushed back from the family's home in Falmouth Street to London on May 3 when both procedures were carried out during more than four hours in surgery.

"Since then he has done fantastically well," said Ella. "He was home within two weeks and taking a bottle straight away and he's started to put on weight again."

As a thank you, a fundraising day was held at the Rocking Rabbit in Market Street, owned and run by Ella and her mother Kim Coward, which raised £850 for the hospital's annual Bake It Better campaign.

"We have so much to thank them for and we wanted to give something back," said a delighted and relieved Ella.

"Louis is like a new baby and I can finally enjoy being a mum."