Brave Scott in vital heart op

Little Scott Betts is only 23 months old but already he has undergone more trauma than most adults ever will in their lives.

Born with a rare heart condition which led to him suffering a heart attack at just 15 months old, the brave Wolverhampton boy is one of the youngest people in the country to undergo a life-saving transplant.

At times over the past two years his devoted mother Laura feared she may never get the chance to see her son grow up.

But just weeks after the seven-hour transplant operation, Scott is like any other little boy, looking forward to unwrapping toys at Christmas. "He used to sleep all the time but now I am lucky if I can manage to get him down for one nap a day," said 19-year-old shop assistant Laura, from Barrington Close, Oxley. "There were times I was terrified I could lose him but now he is into everything."

At three months Scott was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy which meant his left heart chamber was failing to pump blood around his body. A year later he suffered a heart attack. He recovered enough to be taken to Great Ormond Street Hospital in London to wait for a life-saving transplant.