The happy new schoolboy saved by a heart op at three days old

A mother who nearly lost her baby son to a heart condition today spoke of her continuing gratitude to the doctors who saved him, as he completed his first week at school.

Oscar Duggan was born with a narrowing of the aorta, the major vessel which carries blood away from the heart, and at three days old had life-saving emergency surgery at Evelina London Children’s Hospital near Waterloo. His mother Clare, 29, a primary school teacher, said: “They said he was the sickest baby there, but the staff were amazing.”

Oscar, now four, still has regular checks on a narrowed heart valve, but was thrilled to start at Bursted Woods Primary School near his Bexleyheath home.

“After his first day he ran in shouting ‘Mummy it was brilliant’,” said Mrs Duggan. “He is just an ordinary child who can play and join in with all the others. We are so thankful to the people at the hospital.”