A little girl is facing her very first day at school with a smile after undergoing a last minute heart transplant which has saved her life.

Time was running out for Evie Clasper, four, who was on the cusp of death before a heart suddenly became available and doctors were able to perform the intricate ten-hour operation she desperately needed.

Evie, who was so ill she spent months in hospital unable to walk, talk or eat, can now run and play like any other little girl and is starting reception at Barley Fields Primary in Ingleby Barwick, near Stockton - a milestone her mum Dawn thought she would never reach.

The proud 42-year-old said: "She is a little miracle. Doctors had told us to prepare for the worst. She was such a poorly little girl, but now she is smashing.

"She had been ill all of her life, and we couldn't even take her outside if it was windy or raining.

"Now she is running and dancing and she is even starting school, which is something I once thought would never happen.

"She is really excited and can't wait. She's not phased by it at all, she just wants to be like other children."

Evie was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a condition where the left side of the heart does not develop properly.

She has had a staggering ten operations on her heart alone, and single mum Dawn estimates she must have had around 26 altogether.

Evie has spent the vast majority of her young life in hospital, but Dawn now hopes she is home for good following the transplant in April of this year.

The tot, who was just three when she went under the knife, joined the donor waiting list in January after the last operation to fix her heart failed.

Dawn and her other children, Daniel, 14, Megan, 12, and Daisy, six, then spent an agonising three months waiting for an organ to become available - bizarrely THREE then arrived all at the same time.

The first two were not suitable but the third was a perfect match and on Easter Sunday of this year Evie was operated on at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle.

Dawn, a community nurse, added: "I can't describe how I felt while Evie was having the transplant. It was agony.

"I did not know if she would live or die, but as soon as I saw her I knew it had worked. I know it sounds strange, but despite the fact she'd undergone a ten-hour operation, she looked healthy.

"As her mother I just had a feeling that everything would be OK. Doctors have told me she is a miracle."

Dawn, who says she wants to give hope to other families with children who need transplants, is now planning to go back to work next month.

She added: "I am so proud of Evie. She is a stubborn little girl, and if you tell her she can't do something she just tries even harder.

"Despite everything she has been through she has reached every milestone and her development level is the same as other children her age.

"She has been to nursery a few times, and the staff there said she was ready to start reception. I can barely believe how far she has come."