HE IS just four years old, but today Aiden Bloss is facing open heart surgery for a life-saving operation.Already in his young life the brave little boy has endured three major operations and countless trips to the hospital after he was born with a heart condition so rare that doctors at Ipswich Hospital had seen nothing like it before.

HE IS just four years old, but today Aiden Bloss is facing open heart surgery for a life-saving operation.

Already in his young life the brave little boy has endured three major operations and countless trips to the hospital after he was born with a heart condition so rare that doctors at Ipswich Hospital had seen nothing like it before.

However, today, his family have heard that a life-changing operation, which he was due to have when he was just nine months old, will now take place next month.

Aiden, whose plight featured in The Evening Star when he was just eight months old, has a hole in his heart and two blood vessels going into the right-hand side of it, instead of one either side.

The open heart surgery- due to last between four to six hours - is vital for the toddler's survival, and mum Emma Blower, from Laxfield, hopes it will spell an end to all his problems.

The operation had to be put on hold originally because his core artery was in the way as he was too small. Doctors put a shunt in as a temporary measure until he grew more.

Miss Blower, 22, said: “He is getting more breathless as he becomes more active. Although he has been a lot better recently, he has lots of coughs and colds because he is prone to picking things up.

“We do have to keep an eye on him because he can get quite breathless and go blue.”

He is set to undergo the Rastelli procedure, which involves closing a hole in his heart, redirecting one of the vessels and creating a new valve and vessel.

It is hoped that by the time he begins school next September, he will be just as capable as the other children.

Miss Blowers added: “I'm really pleased he can have the Rastelli procedure because the other option would have meant he would need a heart transplant. He will never be able to do competitive sports but at least he can lead a relatively normal life.

“I am hopeful that if this goes well, it should last him until his late teens when he'll have to have another one.

“Aiden used to be really insecure because he had spent so much time with adults and did not know how to interact with other children but since he has gone to playschool, he has become so confident.”

Throughout the last few turbulent years, Miss Blower has relied on Aiden's stepfather Nick Stacey, and her parents, Teresa and Darryl Blower, for support.

She added: “I couldn't have done this without them.”

Do you know someone who needs a life-saving operation? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN, or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk.