The Royal Brompton Hospital in London has played a big part in our lives over the last year.

When Owen was just 5 weeks old he was taken in a blue-light ambulance from St. Peter's where he was initially diagnosed with hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy, a life-threatening thickening of the heart muscle.

We stayed for a week while they pulled out all the stops to find the cause of Owen's condition and therefore what, if anything, could be done to help him.

Unfortunately for us, Owen's diagnosis was LEOPARD Syndrome, which meant there was sadly little that could be done. Continual monitoring and regular high doses of beta-blockers were the fundamental parts of his treatment.

However our wonderful consultant, Anna Seale, thought of Owen frequently. She brought him in to consider a new drug treatment (deemed too risky), spoke extensively to the heart transplant team, and other conslutants from The Royal Brompton and Great Ormond Street Hospital about the options for Owen.

In January, after several postponed attempts, Owen had a balloon dilation on his pulmonary valve in the hope that this may reduce the obstruction of his blood flow and consequently may reduce his cardiomyopathy. The procedure in itself was an enormous risk for Owen due to the unstable nature of his heart but we had confidence in the surgeons, among the best in the world! In fact the surgeon carrying out the task teaches this operation around the world.

Unfortunately the procedure did not give Owen's heart the break it needed and only two weeks later, he suffered a cardiac arrest, what we had been warned of and feared the most.

The Brompton is a specialist cardiac and respiritory hospital and is the country's largest centre for the treatment of congenital heart disease.