A BOY who survived cardiac arrests, major surgery and spent more than a year in hospital is looking forward to his best Christmas ever.

Lennox Knight will get to open his presents with his family at home in Trimdon Station, County Durham, for the first time in his life this year.

The 15-month-old spent the first 373 days of his life in Newcastle's Freeman Hospital undergoing treatment for a serious heart condition called hypoplastic left heart syndrome.

At just three days old he had his first major heart operation and at 12 days old suffered the first of five cardiac arrests he had during his time in hospital.

During his latest surgery, for airway reconstruction, doctors also found an unknown condition where Lennox had grown a membrane that completely blocked his airway.

Thanks to successful treatment he has finally been able to go home- in time to spend Christmas with parents Laura Smith and Jordan Knight and brothers Riley and Cole.

Mother Laura Smith said: "The day we got to take Lennox home was the happiest day of our lives.

"He celebrated his first birthday in hospital with the amazing nurses that have cared for him all his life and not once did we think that just a week later we'd be able to bring him home.

"But thankfully, he's now here at long last.

"This Christmas is going to be the best one ever and so different to our day last year, spent on intensive care surrounded by machines and wires.

"This year we will all be at home with his brothers making magical memories, and will shower Lennox with lots of presents and love.

"There were so many times we thought we were going to lose Lennox, and so many days we worried he would never make it home."

Miss Smith, an ambassador for The Sick Children's Trust Ambassador, said the incredibly tough times were made easier by the charity providing a home from home at Scott House, close to the Freeman's Children's Heart Unit.

She thanked the charity for enabling the family to be with Lennox so he was not alone, its staff and the hospital's paediatric nurses for their support.

The Sick Children's Trust runs free accommodation across the country so every year more than 4,000 families can stay close to their seriously ill children in hospital.

Scott House manager Andrew Leadbitter said: "When a child is seriously ill it has a significant impact on family life, let alone when they require over a year of lifesaving treatment.

"Laura and Jordan were able to move their entire family to Scott House so that they could be with Lennox and help him through his battle, but still be there for their other children.

"We are thrilled Lennox will finally be able to spend his first Christmas at home, surrounded by his family."