A CROFT mum has spoken of the moment she felt numb with shock when her son had to have major heart surgery when he was just 16 days old.

Pauline Houghton's son Jacob had an operation to repair a hole in his heart and the narrowing of his aorta despite being given the all-clear when he was born.

The Arkenshaw Road resident noticed something was wrong when Jacob was nine days old and after a visit to Warrington Hospital he was rushed to Alder Hey Children's Hospital.

Pauline, aged 37, said: "I could not speak as I was too scared of what was happening and I was imagining everything bad. I think my body may have gone it to shock.

"We were not allowed to go near his bed and we were escorted out of the room as there were about 10 doctors over his bed and machines beeping like crazy."

Now Jacob is two and he has made a good recovery, only returning to hospital for yearly scans.

But Pauline and Jacob's sister Sophia, aged nine, have now raised more than £860 for Ronald McDonald House as a way of saying thanks for the 'excellent support' the charity offered.

Ronald McDonald House provided home from home accommodation for Pauline, Jacob's dad Alex and Sophia while Jacob was in hospital.

Pauline and Sophia were sponsored to have 24 inches of hair lopped off between them at Ian Black International Hair Studio in Common Lane, Culcheth.

The mum and daughter's hair was then donated to the Little Princess Trust which provides wigs for children suffering from hair loss.

If you would like to pledge a donation to Pauline and Sophia visit justgiving.com/paulinesophiahaircut