A baby born with a heart defect is recovering at home after having a pacemaker fitted at just five days old. Liam King had the operation after his parents were told he would not survive without the device to regulate the beating of his heart.

By the time of the operation, Liam had already defied medical odds as doctors thought he would not survive 15 minutes past his birth because of a congenital heart block. The condition was diagnosed while Liam was still in the womb of Ann Collier, 21, of Cwm, Blaenau Gwent, South Wales.

Liam’s father, Andy King, 26, said: “The electrical system between the heart chambers wasn’t working properly. It was every parent’s worst scenario.”

Liam is due to have further operations at the ages of 5, 12 and 21 to replace the pacemaker.

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