SINCE she was born, Harriette Parker-Harrison’s family have worked to ensure she has the same opportunities as any other child.

Earlier this month, she completed the Darlington 3K run with the help of a local running group and the support of the town behind her.

Touching scenes saw Harriette pushed to the finish line by members of These Girls Can Run Darlington (TGCRD), with spectators voicing their support throughout the route.

Her father, Allan Bancroft, told The Northern Echo how much the moment meant to his daughter, who was born with significant disabilities.

Mr Bancroft approached TGCRD hoping that they could support Harriette during the race and was thrilled when they immediately offered to assist.

Harriette’s complex medical needs did nothing to put off the keen volunteers, who put forward nurse Laura Nelson and former special needs teaching assistant Claire Wilkinson to help.

Mr Bancroft said: “These were two random people I didn’t know and they did so much good for my daughter.

“She was born at 26-weeks and was in intensive care for the first two years of her life, she has cerebral palsy and other problems, she can’t talk or walk.

“But she does know what’s going on and she loved getting to that finish line with everyone shouting her name, she had all the girls from the group behind her and it was just fantastic – it blew me away.

“I also think it was probably good for other disabled children to see a child like her doing something like this.”

Claire Wilkinson, run leader for These Girls Can Darlington, said: “It was really nice to be asked.

“I’ll try and help anyone out where I can and it was amazing to see it all come together.

“It was brilliant to come together to give Harriette the opportunity to access everything.

“I used to be a teaching assistant and worked with special needs children and I believe all children should have access to everything they want to do, no matter what their disabilities are.

“It was lovely to see Harriette get so much out of it, it was such a lovely morning.”

Immediately following the 3K with Harriette, Ms Wilkinson and Ms Nelson took on the Darlington 10K run.