Baby Alan Randon is only ten months old, but he has already undergone surgery on his stomach three times to correct a problem diagnosed at birth.

At the weekend, his parents Chris and Katrina, of Greater Leys, Oxford, took part in an abseil at the John Radcliffe Hospital, in Headington, to raise money for the Oxford Children's Hospital Campaign.

A total of 157 people took part in the abseil and the event is expected to raise £43,000 for the Chox fundraising campaign.

Mr and Mrs Randon, from Forget-Me-Not Way, were among fundraisers who abseiled 100ft from the top of the women's centre at the hospital on Sunday.

Mrs Randon, 33, a logistics engineer, said: "Alan, who is our first child, was diagnosed with Hirschsprung's Disease at birth, which meant his large intestine did not work properly.

"He needed an emergency operation when he was just four days old, so the first couple of weeks for us were a real whirlwind.

"He has had two other operations since then, but he has bounced back and seems fine —he should be able to live a normal life.

"On each occasion, we had to stay at the children's hospital where the staff do a fantastic job.

"We took part in the abseil because we wanted to give a little bit back after all the help we received. The hospital has been designed with children and parents in mind and we were on Tom's Ward, where parents can stay overnight in comfort."

Penny Hambridge, children’s development officer for the children's hospital, said: "We asked all the participants on the day how much they thought they had raised, and it came to an amazing £43,000.

"We would like to say a very big thank-you to everyone who took part in, or supported the event."

The £30m children's hospital opened on the site of the John Radcliffe last January and staff treat 65,000 patients every year.

The NHS paid £15m towards the cost of the hospital but the remaining £15m had to be raised from corporate and community fundraising.

Former Arsenal soccer star Martin Keown, who supports fundraising at the hospital, was at the women's centre to support those taking part in the abseil.

Beachborough Preparatory School near Brackley, Northamptonshire, also backed the charity abseil and Verity Sanders, charity co-ordinator for the school, joined fundraisers on the day.