THE family an 11-year-old boy from Tamworth who received life-saving treatment at Birmingham Children's Hospital are celebrating the completion of its Heart Appeal – smashing the £2 million target.

Dosthill mum and dad Richard and Sheena threw their weight behind the campaign to build a state-of-the-art "hybrid" heart operating theatre to show their gratitude after their son Joseph underwent a string of surgeries.

Dosthill primary pupil Joseph was just four when he received open heart surgery at the hospital after being born with a life-threatening condition which meant blood was flowing the wrong way around his heart.

As a thank you for the care he received, the Hawkins gave the Heart Appeal their full backing, including organising corporate golf days.

"It's fantastic news that the heart appeal has raised the £2 million for the hybrid theatre," Richard said.

"It fills you with hope for Joseph and the other children with these sort of complex conditions and it will help put families back together – just like it did ours."

Ten-day-old Joseph was minutes from death when his parents rushed him to the A&E unit in Burton.

After a day of tests, doctors discovered the heart condition, and that he had also suffered a brain haemorrhage. His heart wasn't properly formed, with transposed arteries.

He was taken to Glenfield Hospital in Leicestershire, despite fears that he might not survive the journey.

Still desperately weak and blue from lack of oxygen, after six weeks in a coma Joseph was transferred to Birmingham Children's Hospital, where his condition was stabilised.

Then at the age of four he underwent open heart surgery. And after a day in intensive care, he spent several weeks on the cardiac ward, with his parents beside him.

"Birmingham Children's Hospital were absolutely fantastic," said mum Sheena. "They got us a room there so we could take a break from the unit from time to time.

"Their thoughtfulness was amazing – for the families as well as the children themselves."

At seven, Joseph underwent more surgery to repair one his of arteries and improve the oxygen levels in his blood.

"He's been so much better since then, it's amazing," Sheena said. "Joseph's doing splendidly now and the treatment he's had means he definitely has a future.

"He tries to keep up with the other kids and although he has to pace himself, he likes swimming and drama and leads a pretty normal life."

Although Joseph may need treatment at the hybrid theatre as he possibly faces further operations, he is now a healthy, active 11-year-old. Birmingham is the first children's hospital in Britain to have a hybrid theatre, which is designed to allow open heart and keyhole surgery on the same child at the same time, boosting their chances of survival and reducing recovery time.

It will treat an extra 300 young patients a year, from all over Britain, with plans for more in the future.

The project also includes an expansion of the hard-pressed Intensive Care unit from 20 beds to 31.

Louise McCathie, head of fund-raising at Birmingham Children's Hospital said: "We're so grateful to all of our supporters who have helped us reach this amazing fund-raising total.

"We've enjoyed hearing about all the challenging, fun and unusual ways they found to raise the money.

"This is the quickest this sum of money has been raised for Birmingham Children's Hospital, and this is entirely down to you all and your generosity."