Hand on Heart Charity help a little boy Felix and his family leave hospital, after suffering a cardiac arrest two days before his first birthday.

On Monday 28th December 2015, Kelly Snowdon put her son to bed as usual, there was no indication he was unwell and had previously been perfectly healthy. At 9pm, Kelly and her partner, Ben Kershaw heard Felix cry out from his bedroom so went upstairs to check on him. At first they assumed he was having a nightmare as he appeared to be moaning in his sleep and so attempted to wake him up to comfort him.

Felix didn't respond to Ben calling his name so he then picked him up out of his cot and at this point they realised Felix was extremely unwell. His head and body were very floppy and as they moved into the light, they could see he was drained of all colour and appeared lifeless. Kelly and Ben immediately phoned the emergency services who instructed Ben how to perform CPR, which he did until the ambulance arrived six minutes later. The paramedics found that Felix had suffered a cardiac arrest and was in ventricular fibrillation and they had to shock his heart three times in order to restore a normal heart rhythm. They were then rushed to Blackburn hospital and transferred to Manchester Children's Hospital where Felix was ventilated for three days (turning One on the 30th December whilst unconscious) and in intensive care for a week.

Felix has since been diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome and has received care from Dr. Mark Hall, an electrophysiologist at Alder Hey Children's hospital. Felix is now on a number of medications as he is too young for catheter ablation. The cardiologist have also placed an internal heart monitor in Felix's chest as there are concerns about the rarity of Felix's condition and possibility of other undiagnosed factors contributing to his cardiac arrest.

Felix has also experienced some brain damage as a result of his cardiac arrest and is currently in Blackburn Hospital receiving neuro physiotherapy and will need on going physiotherapy and speech and language therapy, although his most recent scan has shown some improvement.

Kelly and Ben's concern going forward was that although the cardiologists have done everything they can to medicate and monitor Felix's condition, they have in no way been able to cure it and there are still unanswered questions about whether Felix has any other contributing conditions and whether this may happen again.

Felix's parents felt that he was incredibly lucky to have survived this arrest with minimal damage but fear that he may not survive another, especially if the emergency services were not able to attend as quickly as they did.

Kelly and Ben asked Alderhey Children's hospital to help, who then put them in touch with Hand on Heart Charity to assist with funding a defibrillator for Felix as this would bring them some reassurance when he is discharged from hospital. Although they hope to never need to use a defibrillator, they dread to think what would happen if Felix's medication failed him or he has an undiagnosed condition which may have contributed to his sudden cardiac arrest originally.

Hand on Heart Charity who have placed over 800 defibrillators across the UK, predominantly in schools were so touched by Felix story they were determined to help in any way they could. They contacted Janet Jackson who is an active fundraiser for the charity. Janet's son Nic, 26 years old died suddenly the day after his birthday in 2013 from a cardiac episode. He had no symptoms, no health complaints of any kind. When Janet heard Felix's story she was kind enough to donate £500 towards a defibrillator. Nics whole family were pleased to be supporting Felix.

Kelly Snowden comments: "I just wanted to say thank you to everyone at Hand on Heart for helping our family, especially as this is the first time you have been able to help on an individual basis."

Janet Jackson comments: "We are so pleased to help support baby Felix & his family. Both Mike Aimee & Ollie are pleased to be supporting an actual life, seems more personal somehow."

Chris Snowden comments: "I would just like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for donating a Defibrillator to my daughter and son in law on behalf of my Grandson (Felix Kershaw) I understand that most of your donations go towards schools but what you did for my Grandson is amazing and fantastic."

Hand on Heart has been able to provide the additional funds required to provide Felix's family with a defibrillator. Hand on Heart delivered the defibrillator to Kelly and Felix at Blackburn Hospital last week. A Just Giving page has been set up by the family to raise funds for Hand on Heart.

Hand on Heart CEO Victoria Burrows comments: "With Janet's generosity Hand on Heart were thrilled to be able to help Felix. Hand on Heart has been able to facilitate one family to support another, which is wonderful to see."