Hole-in-heart baby Amy’s a model child

AN eight-year-old girl born with a hole in her heart has been strutting the catwalks of New York and London.

Amy Lee was close to death as a baby but is now fulfilling her dream of being a model.

Her proud mum Jennie said: “To look at Amy you would never know the struggles she’s been through.”

Aged just four months she was rushed into hospital where doctors discovered the hole in her heart.

But it was not until she was seven months old that she was strong enough to have life-saving surgery to repair it.

Now the child model has made her debut at two of the world’s most famous fashion shows.

In February she modelled for children’s designer Krissie Colton and her brand ME clothing.

Amy of East Grinstead, West Sussex, said: “I was very, very, very, very, excited because modelling is my favourite thing to do.”

The plucky youngster has also starred in ad campaigns for Sainsbury’s and Lidl.

Jennie said: “She wasn’t nervous at all – I was the one that was nervous. She just said, ‘Mum, I know what I’m doing’. She loves it.

“When Amy’s modelling she’s in her element and has a beaming smile on her face, I am so proud of her.” Recalling Amy’s time in hospital, Jennie added: “I was beside myself with worry and seeing her tiny body hooked up to the machines was dreadful.”

Dr Aaron Bell, the consultant paediatric cardiologist who treated Amy at the Evelina Children’s Hospital in South London, said: “She is a great example of how our life-saving treatment is helping children to go on and live a healthy life.”