At first glance, little Samson Farkas looks like most happy and healthy three-and-a-half-year-olds - he loves hugs, the moon and meeting people. However, the Far North Queensland youngster's smile disguises the tough start to life he has endured after being born with half a heart. Samson has undergone two open-heart surgeries, clinically died nine times and defied doctors who told his parents he would never walk or talk after he suffered a watershed stroke, which affects the brain. His fight to survive is far from over as a third heart operation looms. Samson's mum Renee McIntosh discovered at 16 weeks pregnant that her unborn child had hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a rare birth defect that affects normal blood flow through the heart.