WELL before he was even born, it was apparent there was something wrong with Jack Doran, of Loftus.
Six months after his birth, Jack had open heart surgery, followed by more open heart surgery at 18 months.
A third operation took place when he was aged 2½.
Jack, now 9, has a congenital heart defect, but today, with the aid of a donor valve, Jack goes to school, plays and does all the usual things that a boy his age does.
Jack will play his first season of football this year with the Loftus Rovers under-10s team and will also play basketball for Sutherland.
One of Jack's dreams came true last week courtesy of Wish Day, the annual Make-A-Wish Foundation fund-raiser to grant wishes to seriously ill children.
His wish was to meet members of the Sydney FC team and train with his favourite players, Alessandro Del Piero and Brett Emerton.
Jack relished running onto the field with the team and joining in the training drills and kicking competition.
Although Jack is able to lead a relatively normal life today, his donor valve will eventually need to be replaced.
Jack's mother, Kristen Doran, said the family had prepared for the fact he would need more operations in the future but tried to treat him normally.
"We'll know when Jack needs a new valve and after that he'll need another one," she said.
"The doctor said to treat him like any other child and that's what we do."