Jaime King ‘terrified’ by son’s heart surgery

Jaime King was "terrified" when her son went in for major heart surgery.

The ‘Hart of Dixie’ star has revealed how nervous and frightened she was in the lead up to her 14-month-old son Leo Thames’ heart operation last year.

She explained: "I was wheel-chaired to him every three hours, so I could breastfeed him and take care of him before he went into this huge surgery. It was a terrifying experience. But thank God for the medicine that we have now."

And by opening up about the tough time for the family, the 37-year-old actress – who also has James, two, with her husband Kyle Newman – is hoping other parents will be able to reach out to one another.

She added: "I knew how traumatic the experience was, how much post-traumatic stress disorder I had afterwards, and the trauma that I was experiencing before it.

"It’s because I didn’t know anybody that had gone through it and I didn’t have people to talk to. I have a voice and I want to use that voice on behalf of my son – and I know that my son would want that. I’ve gotten thousands of letters from people and now I have a real community of people to talk to."

Meanwhile, Jaime was thrilled when she found out Taylor Swift – her close pal and Leo’s godmother – had made a donation to the Cedars-Sinai hospital in Leo’s name.

She added to People magazine: "It would be such a disservice for me to keep it private just because I wanted ‘privacy’ when I knew that the doctors needed to be honoured. It wasn’t just about honouring what Leo’s experience was and about honouring these doctors and also, most importantly, on the other hand, honouring all the parents that are going through this."