Devoted sister's 'heartiversary' challenge

GRATEFUL sister has raised almost £2,000 for Birmingham Children's Hospital Charity, after walking over 160km in 28 days, to mark the anniversary of the day the hospital saved her baby brother's life.

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Earlier this year, 20-year-old Katie Bowen's little brother, Ray, celebrated his second birthday but that same week, the family had also celebrated his ‘heartiversary’ - the day surgeons at Birmingham Children’s Hospital fixed his heart.

After a long and difficult IVF journey, Katie's mum, Jenna Leawood, gave birth to baby Ray, with Katie by her side as her birth partner. Jenna, Katie and their family were instantly smitten with Ray, who as Jenna's scans suggested, was born with Down Syndrome.

Life was perfect with Ray completing the family but just a few months later, Jenna noticed he had stopped gaining weight, and she took him to their local hospital. After a series of tests and scans, doctors broke the astonishing news that Ray had a been born with a condition called Ventricle Septal Defect, a birth defect common in babies with Down Syndrome, meaning he had a hole in his heart.