CHILDREN’S birthdays are always special occasions – but for little William Broadbank turning four is a remarkable milestone.

Born with a number of serious congenital heart defects this brave boy has been in and out of hospital most of his life and undergone 16 operations – including his first open-heart surgery at just two days old.

At one stage he was so ill his parents were told to say their goodbyes.

But yesterday William celebrates his fourth birthday – which fittingly coincides with Congenital Heart Defect Awareness month.

In a bid to raise awareness of this devastating condition his family, from Bearwood, want to tell his remarkable story.

Nicky Broadbank, 27, and husband Robert, 33, were told their baby had a heart defect when she was 20 weeks pregnant.

Within minutes of his birth he was rushed to intensive care and he had his first operation, to correct a narrowing in his aorta, just two days later.

The five-and-a-half hour procedure stretched to 10 hours as surgeons uncovered more serious defects.

Doctors reopened his chest the next day to release pressure on his heart after his blood pressure dropped dramatically.

William was fitted with a pacemaker and for two weeks it was touch and go whether he would survive.

Since then he has been in and out of hospital many times for more surgeries, and to treat common illnesses, which for him can have grave consequences.

Colds and a water infection have seen him hospitalised, and a serious infection under his pacemaker, discovered just after his first birthday, required 11 surgical procedures in just 10 weeks.

Mum-of-four Nicky told the Echo: “It has a huge impact on us – we spend a lot of time in hospital and we have to try to keep things as normal as possible for the other children. They find it quite hard. Every time he goes they think he’s not going to come back.

“Driving there is the worst because you know what’s going to happen.

“Now he’s older he understands more and cries ‘help me mummy’ – it’s horrible.

“I don’t want him to see me upset, so I have to be strong for him and the other children as well.

“I have to try to keep it together.”

Amazingly William has battled through it all.

While he will need medication and further surgeries for the rest of his life, his health has improved over time.

Next month he is due to have major open-heart surgery again to widen his arteries, replace a patch on his heart and fit a mechanical aortic heart valve.

“Watching him go through it is horrible – I wish it could be me,” added Nicky.

“But to see him afterwards, he takes it in his stride and starts smiling and is happy again. It’s part of his life now.”

She added: “We don’t know what the future holds for William but we know he's strong and we will be with him every step of the way.”