THEY were 40,000 big thank yous. Henry Bartlam was only six weeks old when he suffered a severe asthma attack which nearly killed him.

Luckily, the tot was under the expert care of Professor John Warner, who arranged for pioneering life-saving steroids to be flown in from Sweden.

The then experimental treatment proved successful.

Although much of Henry's childhood was spent in and out of hospital, he is now fighting fit and about to start university.

Now, 19 years later after the near-fatal attack, Henry and his mother have visited Southampton General Hospital to say a personal "thank you" to child health expert Professor Warner.

The pair also presented medical research charity Hope with a cheque for £40,000 on condition the money is used for infant asthma research by Professor Warner and his team.

Henry's mum, Gabriel, of Hook, near Basingstoke, said: "It was a very easy decision for us to make.

"I am convinced Henry would not have survived without Professor Warner. We have been totally reliant on him over the years.

"This is a very big 'thank you' to him. He is very well-known and his work is the way forward, so it is absolutely wonderful to be able to spend this money in this way."

The cash was left by Mrs Bartlam's uncle, Kenneth Balfour, who founded the chain of Balfour newsagents and died in 1998.

Henry, now 19, said: "I am really grateful for everything. I do lots of sports and lead a very active life."

The teenager has just returned from a gap year in Malaysia with Operation Raleigh and is about to start a history degree at Bristol University.

Professor Warner, acknowledged as a national expert in his field, said it was "fantastic" to see his patient doing so well.

"It is the biggest reward you can get out of medicine," he said.

The cash will be used to buy highly specialist infant lung function equipment to replace existing out-of- date facilities which the hospital has put together over the years.

Although designed mainly asa research tool, the equipment, for use on babies up to 18 months old, will also be used for medical purposes.

Professor Warner's team hopes the new state-of-the-art facilities will help in their work to understand how asthma and other respiratory diseases develop in infants.

Unfortunately, there is still a shortfall of some £20,000, which Hope has pledged to raise so the new equipment can be purchased as soon as possible.

Hope director Ray Kipling said: "We are absolutely delighted with this donation and are now striving to top it up so we can get this equipment in use as soon as possible."

Donations can be made to Hope by telephoning 023 8033 3366.