THE PARENTS of baby Jack Jones say their son is “the picture of health” after undergoing a life-saving operation only last month.

Jack, now three months, was rushed to hospital in Glasgow for surgery in August after health visitor Louise Southward raised the alarm about his head shape.

The condition he was found to be suffering, Vein of Galen, affects just one in three million babies.

Mum Emma, 26, said: “You look at him now and there’s no scar, nothing that shows what he’s been through. It all happened so fast that it feels like a dream — well, a nightmare.”

Dad, Kelvin, 46, said: “It’s hard not to worry, but he’s such a little fighter. He’s the picture of health.”

On August 22, doctors at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital said Jack was well enough to return home. Emma said the couple, who live in Sutton Heath, are organising his christening with 120 guests on September 21.

She said: “He is well enough for us to go ahead with the christening. All the health professionals are delighted with him and can’t believe he’s thriving like he is.”

Jack weighs nearly 14lbs, is meeting all his milestones and even drinks hungry baby milk, Emma said, and she is hoping to start taking him to mother and baby groups.

She said: “We will get results from an MRI scan and meet with a consultant at Alder Hey in a couple of weeks for a progress check.

“There’s always a chance it will come back. But now that he’s had the operation and his head shape is normal, we’ll be able to see a swelling if it comes back. We know what to look for.”

She said the physiotherapist is pleased with his progress and has given Emma some exercises to do to make sure his neck control is as strong as it should be, but that so far he is moving well and there are no reasons to be concerned.

The family will return to Glasgow’s Yorkhill Hospital around Christmas time to see Dr Jo Bhattacharya, the consultant neuro-radiologist who carried out the operation.

Emma, who went to Rainhill High School, said: “He was amazing; he is one of only two experts on the condition in the country, and he really got to know us while we were there.”

She says she has received hundreds of messages of support on Facebook from well wishers, many of them friends of friends.

“Lots of people have commented on the health visitor spotting it. They all say how fantastic she is,” she said.

Jack will be monitored for the rest of his life.