Ruben Weber-Jackson from Yorkshire in the UK, was born with two holes in his heart and his breathing was severely restricted as a result.
His parents often feared the worst but thanks two major operations, his heart has been repaired, as a result of tissue from a cow's heart.
When Ruben was first born, his mother Petra thought her little boy was happy and healthy.
"He was pink and everything seemed perfect, really. But in hindsight, there were probably a few little signs, but nothing significant that made us think there was a real problem."
Petra took Ruben to hospital when she noticed that he had difficulty in breathing. Hospital scans went onto reveal that little Ruben had two holes in his heart and a narrowing of the aorta.
Ruben then went onto have the life saving procedure known as pericardial patch and thanks to one cow's heart, Ruben was able to celebrate his first birthday.
His mother is so grateful for what the hospital have done for Ruben and knows things could've gone differently if it wasn't for this procedure.
"There isn't a day that goes by where I don't think about how different our lives could be now -how very close we came to losing him. In some ways, I think he subconsciously knows - he is such a happy baby and he seems to want to make the most out of life."
