KEY POINTS:
With big blue eyes and a scar that runs from the top of his chest to his belly button, 9-month-old Connor Carss is the face - or chest - of Heart Children's latest campaign, to raise $300,000.
Connor is among about 600 children treated for a heart defect each year.
Heart Children spokeswoman Debbie Madden said they wanted an image that would make people notice their campaign.
"We've had lots of positive feedback, but some people cannot bear to look at him."
Connor's parents, Rebecca Holder and Aidan Carss, are proud of the image. "They are showing people this is what he has been through," said his 22-year-old mum.
There was no sign Connor was ill when he was born on August 10 last year. But two months later, when a cold left him struggling to breathe, he was taken to Starship children's hospital for a scan. It revealed his heart, which had not formed properly, had five major defects. "It was hard to believe that my healthy little baby was so very sick. We were devastated," said Holder.
Doctors said Connor would need surgery to reach his first birthday. In an eight-hour operation, a plastic shunt was inserted to allow blood to reach his lungs.
"Seeing Connor after the surgery was very frightening," Holder wrote in an account of the ordeal. "His chest was left open about an inch, he was as white as a ghost and there were tubes everywhere."
After weeks in hospital Connor was ready to leave, but three-month immunisations caused his heart to stop. Doctors took 45 minutes to resuscitate him.
After three months, Connor went home for Christmas with his parents and brothers James, 8, and Caleb, 2. He will need more surgery in a year or two.
The Heart Children appeal runs until Saturday. To make a $20 donation, phone 0900 4 HEART (0900-443-278).
