Brave Teddy's lesson in beating the odds

BPROUD parents Kirsty and Nigel Luke were overcome with joy watching their son Teddy head into school for the first time – a day they feared would never happen.

- Matthew Barbour

They admit having lost count of the number of times they said “goodbye” to the little lad as he endured a series of open-heart surgeries – including eight hours on the operating table shortly after his birth.

Before Teddy was born, scans showed he had a brain condition but this turned into a seemingly endless list of life-threatening problems with his heart – caused by an incurable genetic condition so rare only one in 40 million have it.

The surgery after his birth was to reverse a lack of blood flow caused by two holes, an interrupted aortic arch, a malformed bicuspid valve and aortic stenosis in his heart.