It was eyes down for a full house at Monmouth’s Royal British Legion Club as family and friends gathered to raise money for a Southampton children’s ward.

Caleb Thomas was only two days old when it was found he had a heart condition.

He was diagnosed with Pulmonary atresia, a congenital heart defect when the valve that controls blood flow from the heart to the lungs doesn't form at all.

The family didn’t know prior to having him and after bringing him home from the maternity hospital, parents Kirsty and Deeke could sense something was wrong and took him back to the hospital in Salisbury where the midwife thought little Caleb was tongue-tied at first, but it soon became evident something more serious was wrong.

After carrying out observations, the doctors could see Caleb was nearly dead so they immediately put him on a ventilator and then bluelighted to Southampton where they confirmed he had a heart condition.

“He had his first open-heart surgery at four days old and had temporary stents in place to connect his heart and his lungs,” said Kirsty

“He was really sick: he couldn’t feed or tolerate food,” she added.

He’s now two years old and had two open heart surgeries and due to have another one, but his airwave became damaged and now he’s had over 50 surgeries on his airwave to get it to open.

Now that the family has moved to Coleford, Caleb will be transferred to Bristol and the idea of the charity bingo night at the ‘Brit’ was to raise money to thank the Ocean Heart ward in Southampton’s general hospital to say thank you.

“This will be our last ‘hurrah’ for the hospital and me and my mum, Linda, will skydive next year - my most biggest fear!”

We will be raising money for the Ronald Mcdonald House Charity, where we stayed in Southampton for nearly a year while Caleb was undergoing treatment.

Ronald McDonald Houses are located close to specialist children’s hospitals across the UK meaning families can be by their child’s bedside in a matter of moments.

“We would not have survived as a family without that help from the Ronald McDonald house charity,” she added.

“My son was in intensive care and I needed to be sat there with him as I had only just given birth to him.

“I was ill so they were looking after him as well as me so I could not be more proud of the people that cared for him and looked after us.”

Kelly Thomas, his aunt said: “ I am pleased to say that we managed to raise a staggering £2,200 and still donations are coming in. The two charities Ocean Ward in Southampton Hospital and Ronald McDonald House in Southampton will benefit massively from this money and be able to help children and families like my nephew Caleb and his family. We don’t know what the future holds for Caleb but to see everyone’s support for him was incredible. “