Gobowen toddler Ollie has successful heart op in US, says mum

A one-year-old has had surgery in California to widen his arteries and fix a hole in his heart after his mother’s fundraising campaign.

Ollie, from Gobowen in Shropshire, was born with a number of serious issues and UK hospitals had only offered him palliative care.

His mother, Jasmin, raised more than £1.5m to pay for the operation in the US and said on social media the operation had been a success.

The next few days would be critical, she said, but “everyone has high hopes for our brave little boy”.

Jasmin said the surgeon told her “Ollie has done better than he thought” and her son was now in intensive care, recovering.

She added: “Seeing him after surgery was very difficult, but already his colour has started to improve.”

The second phase of his treatment will take place back in the UK, but he is expected to remain in California for several months before that happens.

Jasmin thanked the thousands of people who had supported her fundraising appeal.

Ollie’s heart condition is known as pulmonary atresia with ventricular septal defect and major aortopulmonary collateral arteries (PA-VSD MAPCAs), and it has meant he has spent most of his first year in and out of hospital.