A doctor who had his head shaved to raise funds for a toddler with a rare heart condition has now collected more than $12,000 in donations.

Stephen West held the “Buzzed or Bald” fundraising event at his Wee Care surgery in Hamilton on Thursday in aid of Keyler Lopez-Mendoza, a two-year-old from a remote village in Nicaragua who underwent life-saving surgery at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto on the same day.

Keyler’s operation was paid for by a charitable fund for international patients at the hospital so Dr West is raising money for his non-medical expenses, such as travel and accommodation.

He pledged to have his head shaved bald if more than $5,000 was raised or “buzzed” if it was under that amount.

The paediatrician told The Royal Gazette yesterday that he’d raised $12,340 so far, adding: “Amazing for how little hair I had to lose in the first place! I am completely overwhelmed by the generosity shown by the community and the Wee Care Pediatrics families.”

Dr West said Keyler’s surgery was “incredibly complex” and lasted for more than nine hours.

“He continues to be a fighter but has faced a couple of very significant setbacks post operatively,” he said. “In the last 24 hours he has started to show some improvement but he remains critically ill requiring maximal support in the cardiac critical care unit at the Hospital for Sick Children.”

Keyler’s complex cyanotic congenital heart disease, which is literally turning him blue, came to light after medics, including a team from Bermuda, visited his village with the Corner of Love charity last year.