DAVID and Tracy Birks, who struggled to conceive, have had an emotional journey since their miracle boy was born with two holes in his heart.

After three miscarriages, David and Tracy tried IVF. When this failed, they thought they would never have a child.

But to their surprise and delight, Tracy discovered she was pregnant on their tenth wedding anniversary.

Within a week of Tom’s birth, doctors found he had a hole in his heart.

Six months later, a heart check-up revealed a second, rarer and more dangerous condition – a hole between two valves in Tom’s heart, which needed immediate attention.

The condition had prevented oxygenated blood from circulating properly in his body.

Tracy 43, said: “He was always getting really bad colds and they couldn’t believe he never went blue and that he ate.

“They said he should have been so ill with what he had.

“Because of the problem he had, he was almost drowning with the fluid on his lungs.

“He was tested for cystic fibrosis and he used to sweat constantly – I thought it was to do with his plastic high chair.”

Tom had surgery at the Royal Brompton Hospital, London, and was in intensive care for five days.

His parents who live in Church Hill, Earls Colne, took it in turns to sit with him.

Tracy said: “It was horrendous. You deal with it because you have to. During that time you just don’t know what to do with yourself.”

“The surgeons were quite worried he would have irreversible lung damage because it should have been managed not long after he was born.

“They missed it because they were concentrating on the hole in his heart.”

Six months later, Tom returned to the London hospital to have the hole in his heart closed and was in intensive care for two days.

Two years on from his ordeal, the youngster, who goes to ABC Pre School, Earls Colne, is set to turn three on May 17.

Mrs Birks, who works at Earls Colne Constitutional Club, said: “It was an emotional rollercoaster, but he’s such a good boy.

“Children are amazing. They bounce back just like that. He’s a real chatterbox and so cheeky.

“I just hope this doesn’t affect him being sporty in the future.”

On Saturday, a 12-hour snooker marathon was held in honour of Tom’s bravery and to raise money for a charitable trust which supports patients on the children’s ward at Colchester General Hospital.