LITTLE Stanley Taylor was just seven months old when he underwent major open-heart surgery.

Born seemingly healthy in September 2013, it was not until his six week check up that the brave boy was diagnosed with a heart defect.

Struggling with his weight and forced to feed through a tube, Stanley spent weeks in and out of hospital before an operation at Alder Hey, Liverpool's specialist children's hospital, in April last year.

Now on the mend, the one-year-old's parents plan to pound the pavements of Liverpool to raise funds for three different organisations that helped the family through a difficult period.

"There was a hole in the two bottom chambers of his heart so red blood and blue blood was mixing," said Stanley's 28-year-old mum Aimee Taylor, of Grange Fell Road, Grange. "So the left side of his heart was really enlarged because it had to work harder than normal.

"There was also too much blood flowing to his lungs which affected his breathing. He had to have a nasal feed because eating made him out of breath.

"He couldn't put any weight on because even when he was resting his heart was working that hard it was burning off all the calories he was taking in."

Aimee, who works as a medical secretary at Nutwood Medical Practice in Grange, added: "He was still in newborn clothes at seven months. He kept picking up bugs, he had chest infections, bronchitis and was constantly in and out of hospital."

With little sign of improvement, Stanley was admitted to Alder Hey where he underwent surgery.

During the operation, Stanley, who has an older sister called Isabella, was put on a heart bypass machine because doctors had to stop his heart and lungs.

"They stitched a patch made from cow over the hole so that's now there and will be for the rest of his life," said Aimee.

"He is doing OK now but he's not at 100 per cent. One of his valves is leaking and doctors think he has got asthma but compared to what he was like he is a lot better."

Aimee, alongside her 32-year-old husband Stuart, a marine engineer in the merchant navy, will take on the Liverpool half-marathon on March 29.

They are raising money for Alder Hey, Ronald McDonald House and Lagan's Foundation, which offers support to families who have children with heart defects and/or feeding difficulties.

"During Stanley's time in hospital we stayed at Ronald McDonald house, which is literally a stone's throw from the hospital," said Aimee. "It is completely free and is an amazing lifeline to parents who need to be close to their poorly child in hospital. It meant so much to us to be able to walk over in the middle of the night if we wanted to see him, and be so close by if they needed us to come over."

Visit uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/stanleybear to donate.