MEET Alex, the baby looking forward to the first decent meal of his life.

Alex recovers in hospital with dad Les Rafton and mum Kay Thomas

The ten-month-old from York was today recovering from a gruelling six-hour operation to transfer his stomach to his chest.

Tiny Alex was born without an oesophagus, so could not swallow and was fed through a tube attached to his stomach.

Now doctors have operated to ease the youngster's stomach into a small space in his ribcage. He will be able to eat food properly once he has fully recovered.

Relieved dad Les Rafton said: "He was operated on when he was a day old and then he had a second operation just two days later. He spent the first three- and-a-half weeks in hospital."

Les, 36, who works at Fred's bakery in Albemarle Road, York, said even though Alex had been fed through a tube, he was still given food in his mouth to get used to real eating.

Les and his partner, Kay Thomas, 26, of Moss Street, York, visit Alex every day at Leeds General Infirmary, where the operation was carried out.

He said: "We are so relieved, but we have still got a long way to go. His stomach is quite small so he has to eat little and often."

About one in 3,000 children are born without an oesophagus but most need only a straightforward operation. Alex was an extreme case.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.