THE mum of a six-year-old boy with a potentially deadly heart condition has thanked people who sent cards to sick children staying at a hospital.

After an appeal, Heather Walken managed to collect over 400 cards for her son Isaac Hopson to hand out to children who have stayed at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, Liverpool, over the summer.

Little Isaac has check-ups every six months at the hospital, where he gets a heart scan.

He is due to have another scan next week which will determine whether he needs surgery, and also has meetings with dieticians and lots of blood tests.

Heather, of Queen Street, Darwen, said the postcards contain inspirational and positive messages which aim to put a smile on the faces of children, parents and staff at the hospital.

And Isaac’s stay at the hospital and a postcard he designed at school encouraged him to design his own postcards for children at the hospital.

He handed the cards out and some biscuits with his friend Ava, who he knows through going to the hospital and who is a patient in the cardiology unit at the hospital.

Heather said: “The amount of cards we’ve had is a bit of a shock and the response has been so good.

“We had various staff and children from schools and nurseries in Darwen who helped us.

“We can’t thank people enough for their help.”

Isaac was diagnosed with the incurable congenital heart defect in January 2016 when he was four. The condition can cause heart failure.

Within weeks of his diagnosis Isaac had lifesaving open-heart surgery at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool, where his mum and dad Jason Hopson spent time in the Ronald McDonald House, which provides accommodation for families with children in hospital.

Heather added: “He’s due to have a heart scan next week and that will determine whether Isaac needs to have more surgery.

“He can’t run around and do the things other children can, but he just tries to stay as happy as he can and he’s doing well.”