‘MINI-IRONMAN’ Kyle Miller is back home recovering after having his “heart charged” in a second major operation.

The five-year-old was born with a heart defect called Tetralogy of Fallot, which only affects one in every 3,600 babies.

Aged just six months, he underwent open heart surgery for the first time to repair a hole in his heart.

Earlier this month he had his second major operation to replace a valve.

Kyle is now home in Lancaster Close, Bicester, recovering with brother Lleyton, three, mum Mikyla Butler and dad Anthony Miller.

Miss Butler said: “Last year he was quite poorly. He had a bit of a blue spell and collapsed and couldn’t breathe properly.”

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Kyle, who has regular check-ups, was taken to hospital and further tests showed his heart was enlarged and his pulmonary valve needed replacing.

Miss Butler, 27, said: “It’s very rare to do it on children his age and they only use adult valves in these operations.”

It was touch and go as to whether the adult valve would fit, but surgeons were able to place it.

She said the valve was only expected to last five years but could be replaced by less invasive keyhole surgery. Miss Butler said: “We have explained to him that he’s like Ironman and the reason he went into hospital for the operation was to have his heart charged up.”

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Kyle in hospital

Marvel character Ironman has a chest plate that protects his heart from shrapnel that became lodged after he was attacked. The chest plate needs regular charging. Miss Butler said: “When he was in intensive care, a doctor asked him if his scar hurt, Kyle tapped his chest and said it’s charging.

“It’s really hard at times but you have just got to get through it.

“Kyle is just amazing, we just follow his lead really.”

The family has now started fundraising for two charities – the British Heart Foundation and Heartlink, an organisation that supports the children’s heart ward at Glenfield Hospital in Leicester, where Kyle had both his operations.

Glenfield is one of only a handful of hospitals in England that perform children’s heart surgery. During Kyle’s surgery and recovery period in hospital, his family stayed in accommodation provided by Heartlink, which Miss Butler said was a “massive” help.

So far, family and friends have raised more than £1,300 from a raffle and taking part in the Blenheim 10k and Oxford Half Marathon runs.

In the coming months, they have a string of events planned including a second raffle, a skydive, and Team Kyle plan to enter a team in the Rough Runner event.

  • For more details or to help view justgiving.com/teams/kylesstoryfixmyheart or see Kyle’s story on Facebook