London Marathon: Nottingham mum to run for daughter saved by surgery

Jen's daughter - pictured here with the rest of her family - is now 13

A mum of a teenager whose life was saved by open heart surgery plans to run the London Marathon.

Jen Evans, 37, said her daughter - now 13 - has had five operations on her heart - one of which led to a stroke when she was just four years old.

Her daughter was born with a congenital condition called hypoplastic left heart syndrome.

Mrs Evans, from Nottingham, now plans to run the marathon to raise money for the British Heart Foundation.

She said she and her husband Phil had first been told there was something wrong with their daughter's heart during a 20-week screening scan.

The family said she has now stabilised and they are "so proud" of her

Mrs Evans, who works at a primary school, said: "We hadn't really heard of heart related issues in children before, so were in a bit of a daze.

"While we were in shock, the good news was that there were things that could be done to help her, mainly a surgery called the Fontan Procedure which would involve three surgeries over five years."

Their daughter had a procedure just two days after she was born, in November 2009.

Surgeons tried to insert a balloon into her aortic valve to help widen it.

"Unfortunately, they were unsuccessful and her condition deteriorated.

When she was nine days old, specialists determined that she should begin the first step of the Fontan Procedure to try build her a new, larger aorta.

Jen's daughter had her first procedure just days after she was born

She was due to have the final stage of surgery when she was four but, while the procedure was a success, a rare complication saw a blood clot travel to her brain, causing her to have a stroke.

"When the doctors told us what had happened, Phil and I cried the whole night," said Mrs Evans said.

"It was a really difficult time. You never think your four-year-old will have a stroke.

"Thankfully, she's recovered well."

 To raise funds for research into heart conditions, Mrs Evans is taking on the marathon on 23 April.

She added she was "so proud" of her daughter.

"Her condition is quite specific, so developments in heart research could have a huge impact on her life," she said.

Karen McDonnell, senior events manager at BHF, said: "We never fail to be inspired by the incredible stories of our supporters, and Jen is no exception."