Kind-hearted parents from Staffordshire have raised £1,000 for Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity to say thank you for saving their son’s life.

Clare and Mike Brough from Newcastle-under-Lyme turned to fundraising as a way of giving back to the staff and surgeons at Birmingham Children’s Hospital who operated on their son, Oliver, when he was just one-week-old.

When Oliver was born, he was diagnosed with Transposition of the Great Arteries (TGA), meaning he had to undergo major open heart surgery as a new-born baby. Before he went for his operation, his parents had him baptised by their local parish priest, Fr Paul, who travelled down to Birmingham from Newcastle-under-Lyme to baptise Oliver, as they wanted him to have as much strength as possible.

Mum, Clare, said: “Mike carried Oliver into theatre in his arms and we watched the surgeons put him to sleep. I have never felt so helpless and broken in all my life. The first place I went was to the hospital’s chapel – I prayed harder than I have ever prayed in my life.”

Eight hours later, Clare and Mike received the terrifying call that there had been complications and Oliver was still in theatre.

Later that night, Oliver came out of theatre and was placed on the Intensive Care unit, where he was surrounded by doctors and nurses all night.

The surgeon had to reconstruct Oliver’s tiny coronary artery which was just 2mm wide. Oliver’s heart was not fully functioning, neither were his lungs, and his kidneys were failing.

Clare added: “My tiny baby boy lay there looking nothing of his former self, he was swollen, covered in wires and monitors with his chest still open. I can’t tell you about the following hours and days – it was painful, frightening and exhausting.”

After just a few days, Oliver surprised us all and began to make a miraculous recovery. Three weeks later, Oliver was able to go home and plans were started for his Christening.

Oliver’s dad, Mike, commented: “We have Birmingham Children’s Hospital to thank for Oliver’s life. The staff work miracles every day and Oliver is a wonderful example of that. We knew we had to do something to give something back so we decided to ask for donations at Oliver’s Christening.

“We were overwhelmed to raise £1,000, our family and friends were incredibly generous and supportive. We hope that the funds raised can provide the hospital with equipment needed to make other families time in the hospital as supportive as possible.”

Miranda Williams, Public Fundraising Manager at Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity, said: “We’ve all been so touched by Oliver’s story and are so pleased to hear he’s doing well since his operation.

“We’d like to say a huge thank you to Clare and Mike for choosing to turn such a scary experience into a positive one by raising money to help make a difference.

“The money they have raised will go on to support the 90,000 patients and families that visit our hospital each year. Without support like theirs, we wouldn’t be able give these families the best possible experience while they’re with us.”