When she was just three weeks old, doctors had told Tia's devastated parents that she could have a heart attack and die within weeks if she didn't have a major operation.

It was touch and go during the four-and-a-half-hour procedure, but the little fighter pulled through. However, there was more heartache to come.

At six, Tia, of Orton Avenue, Woodston, Peterborough, had to cut short her birthday party and return to hospital for her second major op. That was in July 2006, and although she is not out of the woods yet – with yet more surgery in the pipeline – the sparky blonde youngster is not letting anything stop her.

Tia, a pupil at St Augustine's Junior School, her mum Bev (44) and a friend completed the run in Ferry Meadows in 40 minutes, raising £100 for Cancer Research.

Typical of caring Tia, she dedicated the race to the nan she never met. But gazing at a cherished picture of her nan Ivy, who died 20 years ago, she asked her mum: "Can I run for nanny?"

Mrs Horn said: "My mum Ivy Munden died 20 years ago of cancer, but I have a picture in the lounge and she loves her nan."

Jackie Wade, Tia's aunt said: "It was a major achievement for her. "She is such a lovely girl and people at the race were so in awe of her. She did really really well."

Mrs Horn, a warehouse worker at Hotpoint, recalled the emotion when told Tia could die.

She said: "I didn't think anything was seriously wrong with her. I took her to the clinic because she had lost a bit of weight. But, a doctor heard a heart murmur, and they blue lighted us to Glenfield Hospital in Leicester."

There the family was given a stark choice. Tia had to have a risky operation that might not work – or probably have a fatal heart attack within two weeks.

Experts had found that Tia had transposition of the great arteries to her heart, the aorta and pulmonary artery were reversed.

Surgeons had to delicately swap the valves over, and eight months later she had to have a catheter and two metal stents fitted to widen her arteries.

Mrs Horn, who has three older sons, Leon (20), Ricky (18) and Elliot Snart (16), said: "She still has a leaky valve from her heart to her lung so they will have to operate again. But they want to leave it as long as possible.

"She gets ill very easily and had pneumonia. We had an early birthday party for her at Activity World before her second operation.

"When we got the date of the operation through, it was July 8, the same day. But the hospital said she could have the party beforehand.

"I felt I had booked the day to say cheerio to her. It was horrible."

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Related: Video: Race For Life 2008 (Wednesday) | Photo gallery from Wednesday night
For the second night in a row, Ferry Meadows played host to thousands of women united by a common goal.