A PROUD uncle is raising funds to help cheer up children undergoing heart surgery in honour of his “little warrior.”

Stephen Lennox’s 5-year-old niece Zoe Galloway was born with a hole in her heart.

However the condition was missed at birth and only picked up a year ago turning her family’s life upside down.

Months later, in February, surgeons at Glasgow’s Royal Hospital for Children worked to repair the damage in a 7-hour operation.

The little girl is now recovering and her uncle Stephen, wanted to do something to help children facing the same ordeal.

Stephen, 43, from Hamilton, learned about the Zak Scott Braveheart Foundation, which raises funds for gifts for children going through heart surgery and helped brighten Zoe’s time in hospital.

The charity was set up by Ian and Roslyn Scott acting on the wishes of their son Zak who died in 2011, two weeks before his 15th birthday after attempts to mend a complex heart problem he’d been born with failed.

The couple were adamant his death should not be in vain and the special gifts were a way of fulfilling his dream.

Congenital heart disease affects up to nine babies in every 1000 born in the UK.

Thanks to improvements in treatment, most will survive to adulthood but require life-long monitoring.

Stephen, who is dad to Aimee, 8 and Millie, 5 said: “We did some research on the charity and it’s a really inspiring story.

“The parents understood the trauma that other parents go through.

“This story gave us as a family real hope about what was in front of us with Zoe’s recovery.

“Roslyn loves to get updates on Zoe’s progress.

“She is a really inspirational woman who is very selfless in her quest to ensure that her son’s wishes were granted.

“Zoe picked up a chest infection last year and the doctor was listening to her heart and said that something didn’t sound right.

“They did all the tests and diagnosed that she had a hole in her heart. It turned all of our lives upside down.

“She’s a wee warrior.

“She had the operation on the Tuesday and was out on the Saturday. She’s now returned to Ladywell Primary in Motherwell, two days a week.

“The Braveheart Foundation are a really small charity who we would never normally have heard of .

“The small gift that they give to children is worth up to £70. Zoe chose a Scottie Dog soft toy.”

Stephen, who is a sales manager for Andrew and is married to Johan, 38, is running the Glasgow Men’s 10k on Father’s Day, June 18, to raise funds for the charity. The annual event attracts in the region of 4,000 runners and provides a focal point for raising awareness around men’s health issues.

Stephen said: “By doing the 10K and raising as much as I can for them I hope I can give something back to the charity for giving us some comfort going forward with Zoe’s recovery.”

To enter go to www.mens10k.com.

To sponsor Stephen go to www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Stephen-Lennox4