A FAMILY has the memory of their baby boy at the heart of their fundraising following his tragic death. 

The family of Leo Fish were devastated after the 13-week-old died from an undiagnosed heart condition following a brave 71-day fight in intensive care at Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool three and a half years ago. 

But Leo's mum and dad, Nicola and Daniel Fish, of Caergwrle, have pledged to honour his memory by fundraising for other children currently in hospital and other good causes.

Leo's two-year-old brother, Sonny, and six-year-old sister, Evie have recently undertaken a 20-mile fundraising walk. 

There has also been a family fun day and bingo and a six-and-a-half mile bike ride by Evie and Sonny - with the family having so raised over £3,000 in total.

They are using the money to donate to good causes, such as having a specially-designed birthday cake made for a little boy who was in hospital the same time as Leo and Easter Eggs also donated to the Countess of Chester Hospital's children's ward. 

The family also plans to buy toys and other items for the Ronald McDonald charity house - where the family stayed when Leo was being treated. 

The Leader: Evie and Sonny who are raising money in memory of their brother baby Leo.Evie and Sonny who are raising money in memory of their brother baby Leo.

There are plans in place to start a registered charity in Leo's memory. 

The Leader: The Leo the Lion logo which will be used as the trademark of the charity to be set up in his name. The Leo the Lion logo which will be used as the trademark of the charity to be set up in his name.

In October of 2018, a medical camp was set up in Bangalore, India in Leo's memory. 

The camp, named Leo the Lion Camp, saw a specialist medical team from the UK fly out to India whereby they conducted operations at Sri Sathya Institute of Higher Medical Sciences Hospital on children with life-threatening heart conditions.

It saw 16 children receiving potentially life-saving operations. 

The Leader: Nicola and Daniel Fish, with their children, Sonny, 2, and Evie, 6, are fundraising in memory of Leo. Nicola and Daniel Fish, with their children, Sonny, 2, and Evie, 6, are fundraising in memory of Leo.

As well as fundraising, Nicola, 30, wants to raise awareness of undiagnosed heart conditions in new born babies. 

She is warning parents to look out for any of the following signs of heart problems in their babies; sweating after crying, reduced feeding, rapid breathing and bluish, mottled feet. 

These symptoms don't have to occur all the same time, with intermittent symptoms enough to warrant having your baby checked over. 

Nicola said: "I think more awareness needs to be raised of heart conditions in new born babies. I think more checks need to be made before they leave hospital. 

"If I'd listened to the health professionals, Leo would have died at home as they said nothing was wrong with him. 

"But mother's instinct kicked in, I took him to the doctors. The doctor suspected something was wrong as his temperature was very low.

"They advised I went to the hospital where they treated him for suspected sepsis and meningitis, followed by a lumbar puncture.

"They finally did a chest x-ray which showed an enlarged heart, after further tests it became apparent his heart issues were severe. It all became very chaotic with over 10 medical professionals in the room, they intubated him and transferred us to Alder Hey specialist cardiac unit by ambulance."

It turned out Leo, who would have been four this April, had underdevelopment of the left side of his heart, coarctation of the aorta, a bicuspid aortic valve and multiple holes in the heart. 

Nicola was told if he was at home any longer with no treatment, he would have almost certainly died within a matter of days.

The Leader: Nicole and Daniel Fish, with daughter Evie and baby Leo. Nicole and Daniel Fish, with daughter Evie and baby Leo.

His first surgery was in May 2017, when he was aged 20 days old to repair the coarctation of his aorta, before further surgery a month later in the form of pulmonary artery banding as it was too risky to close the holes in his heart.

After 63 days on ICU, he was transferred to High Dependency Unit at Alder Hey. 

Nicola said: "He was doing so well and we were so proud of him making it there after all that time. But after four days on the ward he deteriorated very quickly and his heart stopped, they tried their best to save him nothing could be done.

"They were as shocked as us, as even though there would need to be further surgery as he grew, he seemed to be turning a corner."

She added: "If one child can be saved in Leo's honour then all this awareness and fundraising will have been worthwhile."

You can donate to the fundraiser in Leo's memory here. 

The Leader: Nicola Fish with baby Leo. Nicola Fish with baby Leo.