AGAINST the odds Bellanaleck boy, Alfie Keys’ happy ending is in sight.

The three-year-old who was born with a complex heart condition returned home from hospital in Birmingham on Sunday having undergone a six-hour open heart surgery just over a week earlier.

His third significant operation in as many years, the brave little boy has a long road to recovery ahead of him.

But his proud parents, Nigel and Jennifer are looking forward to seeing their youngest son running about their home farm without being short of breath for the first time in his life.

Alfie’s recovery to date has left the Birmingham medical staff hugely impressed, telling Jennifer it is very rare for a child to come through this type of operation at all.

But on Tuesday this week, Bellanaleck’s little fighter and his 10-year-old big brother Alex were able to return to the serious business of farming in their John Deere tractor, back among family and the familiarity of home.

The significant operation has taken its toll on Alfie in more ways than one, though.

“It’s been manic since we got home on Sunday,” Jennifer tells the Impartial Reporter this week.

“Alfie is still feeling very vulnerable. If anybody comes to the house he gets upset because he thinks they are going to hurt him.

“He is too young to reason with -- old enough to now be aware of what is going on around him but too young to understand why it is happening.

“But he is doing very well.” Alfie and his family took the now familiar journey to Birmingham on Monday, July 14.

They had to endure three cancelled operations before his surgery was given the green light on Friday, July 18.

“We knew there was a chance that it could be cancelled with emergencies coming in to the hospital all the time,” says Jennifer, “But it was hard to keep him settled each time. We would have him all ready and in his gown to go to theatre and then it would be cancelled at the last minute.

“There wasn’t much you could do about it -- in each case there was a child sicker than yours.” But when Alfie’s turn finally came, it was a long and nervous wait for his parents to hear how the operation had gone.

“He went to theatre at 1pm on the Friday and was back with us at 7.30pm that night.

“The first few hours were the longest. The doctors had told us if we hadn’t heard from them in the first few hours then it was an indication that things were going well. So when we got to the four to five hour mark, we knew we were on the home stretch and that the operation was going well.” Alfie’s consultant was a semi-retired doctor, who had specifically chosen to perform the surgery on the boy all the way from Bellanaleck.

“We were glad he had chosen to do Alfie’s operation because he is one of the best,” says Jennifer.

But despite the assurance of knowing their son was in safe hands, nothing could have prepared them for seeing him again when he had returned from theatre.

He was fully ventilated, paralysed and his chest was still open.

“He had been through so much surgery that day that his heart was swollen,” explains Jennifer, “They couldn’t close his chest until the following day. It wasn’t nice to see. We found it extremely difficult this time around. We have been through this twice before but this was the hardest of all.

“It was heartbreaking and all you could do was hold him.” But Alfie had the support, love and care of his big brother to help him with his recovery in hospital, too.

“Alex is so good -- he takes everything in his stride,” says Jennifer, “I told him Alfie would be on a lot of machines and that he would look a bit different. Alex told me, ‘It’s okay mummy, he is still Alfie!’.

“He sat rubbing his hair just as normal. Alfie needed oxygen when he came off the ventilator.

Alex sat holding the oxygen mask to his face and just rubbing his hair as if it was the most normal thing in the world to do.

“He didn’t want to leave Alfie until he was in recovery. Then he was happy to go home.” Relieved to have her family back together again in Fermanagh, Jennifer says the realisation of what their wee fighter has been through is only just starting to sink in.

“We weren’t aware of just how special our wee man’s condition was. Obviously we knew he had a complex heart condition, but we never really knew how rare it was to get it fixed. So he really was against the odds.

“One of the nurses said to me she had goosebumps just thinking about what Alfie has come through.” Alfie and his parents arrived home to Alex on Sunday to surprise him.

“When we arrived home you could see Alex’s wee face light up and he ran over calling Alfie’s name.

“Alex has the heart of a giant -- Nigel and I are so proud of them both.” As the end of summer draws nearer, Alfie is hoping to start playgroup in the new school term.

But he has one more hurdle to overcome first.

“We have to go back to Birmingham in September for another operation which was a bit of a surprise to us,” his mum says.

“During his second operation, when he was six-months-old, the doctors took a vein from Alfie’s neck and put it into his heart. They are now reversing that procedure and putting it back into his neck. Because of that operation, there is now a narrowing in Alfie’s neck and he is getting slight headaches. He has to get the vein ‘ballooned up’.

“Doctors are very happy with how everything has gone so far.

“We just need to get this last operation done and everything should be okay.” Extending a heartfelt thanks to everyone who has offered messages of support to her family, Jennifer says she is forever grateful.

“Sometimes those messages are what gets you through a day over there. On the days that you have to hold your son down so the nurses and doctors and get stuff done to him and he is calling out ‘mummy, mummy’ -- the messages of support keep you going.

“At night time in particular, some times you need that strength from others -- you don’t feel alone.

“Everyone was so pleased to hear that Alfie’s surgery had gone so well. But I know that is only a quarter of the story.

“He has a big recovery process ahead of him now,” she adds, “But he is home and he is happy.”