Amazing journey for Blackpool toddler Thomas

Thomas Williams, 17 months, hit the front page of The Gazette twice last year after battling back from the brink of a serious cardiac arrest and eventually becoming well enough to make it back to his Henson Avenue home in time for Christmas.

The youngster was born with a rare heart condition called transposition of the great arteries, where the two main blood vessels leaving the heart are switched, meaning that blood flows to the lungs and picks up oxygen, but is then pumped back to the lungs instead of travelling around the body.

Mum Kerrylee Glass, 27, and dad Tom, 24, have shared an ‘amazing’ year with their brave son - but say he may need to undergo further heart surgery next year to make additional improvements to his arteries.

Kerrylee said: “We have had our ups and downs and it has been a very emotional year.

“He has got a new standing frame and that will help him build his strength up and help him walk. He’s a shuffler so he does get around.

“He’s very funny. He loves making me laugh and he loves singing to music.”

The toddler, who also has an older sister, Danielle, 12, is due to be Christened next month.

He is also due to have an MRI scan to check the development of his brain.

Kerrylee said: “We’re trying to do everything before he has to have another open heart surgery.

“It’s been amazing to have a surgery-free year. He has kept us on our toes and we have been in and out of hospital quite a lot, but he has been well heart-wise.

“We’re looking on the positive side. As long as he’s breathing it doesn’t matter what he can or can’t do.

“We’re taking one day at a time. Hopefully we’ll know a bit more in the next month or so what we’re going to do with his heart, but other than that he’s been great.

“He’s just like a normal toddler.”