A COURAGEOUS Worcester schoolgirl whose life was saved by emergency heart surgery is celebrating after an appeal for a state-of-the-art heart centre reached the half-way stage.

Becky Little, who was just four days old when she had the surgery that saved her life at Birmingham Children’s Hospital, was overjoyed this week after it was announced that fund-raising for the new unit had reached the £1 million mark.

The eight-year-old Pitmaston Primary School pupils, of Bloomfield Road, St John’s, was born with a life-threatening condition called pulmonary atresia and a small right ventricle.

The new centre will be able to help other children like her in future.

Her parents, Rob and Ellen Little, ran for the Children’s Heart Appeal in the Birmingham Half-Marathon as a thank you for the state-of-the-art treatment the little girl received.

Mr Little said: “We’re really thrilled that the appeal is going so well and has reached the magic £1 million and we’re pleased to have been part of the fund-raising effort.

“The new hybrid cardiac theatre will make a huge difference to children like Becky with complex heart problems and we’re deeply grateful that major operations will soon be taking place there in a much less traumatic and invasive way than before.”

Birmingham Children’s Hospital has seen Becky through several major procedures, including a three-stage op called the Fontan Procedure, to get the blood flowing through her lungs.

She had the final stage in March, exactly a year ago.

The appeal total now stands at more than £1.1 million after months of dedicated fund-raising by staff, families and supporters – and a major donation of £300,000 from the Garfield Weston Charitable Foundation.

It aims to raise £2 million and is the final stage of a ground-breaking £12 million project to make the hospital’s cardiac department the most advanced in Britain.

This involves building a state-of-the-art hybrid operating theatre where several different procedures can be performed on the same child at the same time. The existing hard-pressed intensive care unit will also be expanded.

Mrs Little said: “The hospital did a fantastic job for us and saved Becky’s life – but were also incredibly caring and supportive of us as a family, so we’re going to be going all-out with fund-raising and spreading the word about the appeal to make sure that we reach that £2 million target as soon as possible.”