‘Aaron is our life and we love him with all our hearts’

Jenny recalled, “The surgeon went through all the different things that could possibly go wrong. There were different things, but he obviously saved the worst for last.

“He told us about this artery that ran down the middle of Aaron’s forehead and there was a chance it could be stuck to the bone.

“If this was to tear, we were warned that there would be nothing the doctors could do and basically Aaron would die.

“Obviously we just wanted to stop the operation there and then and take him home the way he was, but the surgeon reassured us as best he could and told us he would treat Aaron as if he were his own child.

“By far that was the worst day ever. We knew in our hearts we had no choice and we had to put our trust in the medical professionals, but effectively we were signing our son’s life away.”

When Aaron was put to sleep, Jenny handed her precious baby son to the doctors. “It was horrendous as I was handing my flesh and blood over to complete strangers. We were devastated and inconsolable at that stage, but we prayed along with David’s parents Fran and Linda.

“We knew God was in control and we prayed and prayed that Aaron would be safe and brought back to us.”

While their son lay in theatre, the Gilmores walked around Oxford “like zombies” trying to work out in their heads when Aaron would be entering the critical stage of the operation.

They constantly checked their mobile phones and finally the call came at 3pm that Aaron was safe and had survived.

Their joy at being reunited with their precious son was swiftly brought back to reality though when they were met by doctors and nurses who warned them to be prepared for how Aaron would look.