A six-month-old boy who had his first life-saving heart operation at 13 days old is now recovering from his second.
Lincoln Edwards, from Wrexham, was born with a congenital condition which meant he needed surgery to improve his blood circulation.
Then last month he underwent nine hours of surgery to fully repair his heart.
Today, her parents raise money for a charity that treats children in similar conditions in developing countries.
Lincoln is recovering at home with mom and dad Georgia Struthers, 22, and Kallum Edwards, 24.
His last operation was six months ahead of schedule because he had outgrown his shunt — or tube.
The operation was performed by Dr Ramana Dhannapuneni at Liverpool Alder Hey Children’s Hospital.
Ms. Struthers and Mr. Edwards now want to help him save the lives of children in developing countries.
The couple are raising money for a charity that Dr. Dhannapuneni works with called Healing Little Hearts.
Founded in 2007, it has performed more than 2,200 operations in 14 countries in Africa and Asia, where treatments are normally unavailable or expensive.
Doctors and nurses work for free in their spare time.
Relationship consultant Ms Struthers said funding one of the charity’s overseas missions seemed like a fitting way to say thank you.
Dr Ramana Dhannapuneni operated on Lincoln at Alder Hey Hospital in Liverpool
“We want to give these kids the chance Lincoln got,” she said.
“If the shoe was on the other foot and it was us, we could never afford the treatment that Lincoln went through.
“Without it he wouldn’t have a chance to live and we wouldn’t have him.”
Dr Dhannapuneni has just returned from a trip to Namibia, where 10 children and babies were operated on in five days.
He said that in many countries, parents struggled to find a place where they could afford to seek treatment for their sick children.
“It’s a massive effect of our charitable missions. There are good stories of children’s heart centers being created from scratch.”
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