Heart op boy’s mum in a rush to help hospital

"We have been to hell and back," Mrs Jacobs told the JC following Eitan's latest operation.

"At one point, his heartbeat appeared to have stopped. I slept on a chair by his bed for four nights and for nine days I didn't even get to see my other two children, seven-year-old Rafi, and Cobi, five. But the doctors and their teams were phenomenal and they pulled him through. I can't praise them highly enough."

Mrs Jacobs and her Dutch-born husband Danny wanted to express their gratitude in a meaningful way; hence her decision to do the Adidas run. She is already two-thirds of the way to her target figure.

As well as the hospital's help and support, the Jacobs family also received encouragement from friends and relations. Prayers for him were said by "all the pupils at Hertsmere Jewish Primary, plus the kids at Rosh Pinah and the Menorah Foundation School in Edgware, and even the children in an Amsterdam school to which my husband's family has links".

She described Eitan as "an amazing little boy - a real fighter. Despite all his problems, he has developed normally. Apart from being a little underweight, he s a typical two-year-old, attempting to imitate everything his older brothers do."

The Jacobs are Borehamwood and Elstree Synagogue members.