Brave little girl by a rubber band

would see. We just wanted ted to give something back to help other children and families in similar situations.”

Mila’s parents have recently learned that she will need another operation to remove the pulmonary band, as the three remaining holes have not closed themselves as initially hoped.

That surgery is scheduled to go ahead next month, when surgeons will also close the holes by inserting a plug in one of them.

Michelle said: “From what I can gather it’s like a double- sided umbrella and, as she grows, it will just become a part of her.”

This surgery is not expected to be as invasive as her first open- heart procedure, which was one of the worst days of her parents’ life.

Michelle said: “Without the heart operation she would have died.

Her body just wouldn’t have been able to cope with the holes the size they were.

“But I just couldn’t get over how they could stop someone’s heart and start it again.

“I thought, ‘ what if it doesn’t start again?’.

“It was awful. I didn’t like to make too many plans in case she didn’t survive. “We just took it one day at a time” Mila spent several days on a ventilator, needed a blood transfusion and, as a result of the multiple holes in her heart, she was too tired to feed so had a feeding tube inserted. This was removed only three weeks after she got home from hospital.

Recalling the moment the couple couplefirst first got tobringMilahome to bring Mila home, Michelle said: “It was unbelievable. It was even better than when she was born because the day she was born was filled with heartache and we wondered if she was going to survive.

“It was just amazing being able to take her out in the pram for the first time.”

But she added: “We didn’t expect it, so we didn’t have a going home outfit ready, so she had on a pink and white stripey baby grow and she looked like a little convict escaping.”

During their 10 weeks in Glasgow, the Ronald McDonald House became their home and allowed them to stay close to their daughter.

Michelle said: “It was a Godsend. We couldn’t have afforded to drive up and down the road every day, and knowing we were only a few minutes walk away was so reassuring.”

But after being away for so long, she admitted they found it strange adjusting to life outside hospital.

“Having her not connected to any machines was strange” she said. “Hospital life became normal, but every day was heart- breaking for us having to leave her at night, even though we were just down the road. I would stay as late as I could and slept there a few times in the chair.

“There were a few times they had to press the red button and that’s when everyone just came running. It was really hard.”

But Michelle said: “To look at her now you would think she was a perfectly normal child with nothing wrong with her. People are amazed when I tell them what she has all been beenthroughandwhatshestillhas through and what she still has to go through.

“We are anxious about the next one [ operation] coming up. But she’s in the best hands.

The treatment she has been given has been second- to- none. We can’t fault it. We are just so thankful to everyone who has been a part of it. We just feel so lucky.”

Mila still has some difficulty swallowing large pieces o f f o o d because her oesophagus muscles do not work as effectively as normal.

B u t n o t h i n g i s h o l d i n g her back. She is above average on all her growth charts and is already one to her next challenge - learning to run.

And earlier this month her parents donned their running shoes to complete the Great Scottish Run in aid of Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity, Ronald McDonald House in Glasgow, and TOFS, which supports families of children born unable to swallow.

To donate to their fundraising drive, visit https:// mydonate. bt. com/ fundraisers/ runformila1