THE family of a miracle baby born with two holes in his heart have raised £30,000 for the hospitals that saved his life.

Brave Ben Maly's parents were unsure if he would pull through after he was born with a rare heart condition at the Royal Bolton Hospital.

But Ben, now aged two, survived against all the odds and his parents Carrie Redfern and Graham Maly embarked on a fundraising campaign to thank staff at the Royal Bolton and Alder Hey.

Carrie, aged 32, and Graham, aged 40, were told their son had a condition called Tetralogy of Fallot and would be born with a heart defect.

At just eight-weeks-old, he underwent the first of four open heart surgeries at the Royal Bolton but suffered a cardiac arrest and had to be placed on a ventilator.

However, after the care of doctors at Bolton Hospital and Alder Hey, Ben made a miraculous recovery, inspiring his parents to raise money for the services that helped him.

Mr Maly, of Roe Green in Worsley said: "We can't put it into words what they have done. We are forever thankful for their care both here and at Alder Hey. They saved Ben's life. The day he went into cardiac arrest was in front of us – it was horrible. But the nurses and doctors were fantastic."

The family set up the Benjamin Maly Cardiac Fund and organised a charity golf event and gala dinner which was attended by Paddy McGuiness and raised more than £22,000.

In total, the family have now raised £37,000 and have just donated £15,000 to the hospital which was matched by The Bradshaw Gass Trust via MedEquip4Kids, to buy a ventilator and saturation monitors for the children’s ward.

Mr Maly, who works for the Professional Golfers Association, said: "We want him to look back at our fundraising efforts when he is older and be proud of his scar and know that he made a different to poorly children.

"He is a bit of a monkey but he is doing brilliantly and fingers crossed it will stay like that."

The new ventilator will replace the ward's 26-year-old machine and will be suitable for newborn babies from just half a pound in weight up to 17-year-olds, the first of its kind.