A SEVEN-month-old baby from St Julian’s who was born with Down's Syndrome and a congenital heart disease is waiting to have life-changing surgery.

Ava-Grace Williams, of Stockton Road, needs to be on oxygen 24 hours a day because her aorta is crushing the airway from her lung.

She also has a hole in her heart.

Mum Aimee Lovell, 20, a shop assistant, said: “She’ll have an operation for both – hopefully, she’ll not need the oxygen after that.

“We’re waiting for a date.

“They have told us that, after the operation, she’ll need to stay in hospital for up to three months.

“Because the pressure on her heart is so high, she’ll need to be in life support after the operation.

“She’ll be in the intensive care unit and they’ll take her off life support slowly.

“It’ll not be nice, but hopefully it’ll be worth it.”

Dad Ben Williams, 22, who is a railway worker, said that everything was normal until three or four months after Ava was born and they went for a routine check-up.

He said that, after doing a heart scan, doctors at the Royal Gwent Hospital noticed there were a few irregularities and kept her overnight.

Doctors decided to transfer her to The Noah's Ark Children's Hospital, in Cardiff, because they weren’t sure what the condition was.

The same happened in Cardiff and she was then transferred to The Bristol Royal Hospital for Children.

“She had scan after scan, test after test,” he said. “At first, doctors in Bristol weren’t sure what it was and the whole cardiology team had to have a look at her until they were sure what the problem was.”

Ava’s parents said they didn’t know that Ava had Down's Syndrome until four hours after she was born.

“But we were fine about it,” Miss Lovell said. “Ava is so happy from the moment she gets up – she always has a smile on her face.”

Miss Lovell said Ava loves her toys and that she enjoys talking to people, especially when the TV is on. She said she also likes to have people around her and loves playing with fingers.

“It’s so nice to see that people care,” Mr Williams said. “We’ve really good support from our family and friends."

Friends and family are organising a fundraising evening on Saturday, October 15, at the Dolman Theatre in Newport where there will be a disco, bar, bingo and food.

Tickets are just £8 and can be purchased from the Dolman Theatre website: www.dolmantheatre.co.uk

To donate, visit justgiving.com/crowdfunding/ava-grace