A LITTLE girl who underwent open heart surgery at just five weeks old has been nominated for a Proud of Barnsley award.

Tanesha Ives, now nine, has had other major surgeries and will need more in future.

She was born with complete atrioventricular septal defect, which meant there was a hole between the top and bottom chambers in her heart and there is a shared valve in the middle, rather than two separate ones.

The operation took nine-and-a-half hours, and Tanesha later developed sepsis and bowel problems but luckily did not need further surgery.

Tanesha spent a total of eight weeks in hospital but when she was 18 months old, she suffered complete heart block, which is where the heart’s natural pacemaker can’t regulate the heartbeat itself, and had a pacemaker fitted.

She tires easily because of her condition, has daily leg pains and is unable to walk far. But she has come on leaps and bounds, and was recently presented with a specialist wheelchair by a charity which allows her to get out of the house and spend more time with her family and friends.

Her mother Amanda, 44, of Park Road, Barnsley, said Tanesha is an active girl who enjoys playing football with her friends. “She loves being outside in the fresh air and although she can’t play for very long she really enjoys kicking the ball.

“She tries as hard as she can but without a pushchair it’s increasingly difficult to get her to the pitch.”

Tanesha, a pupil at Joseph Locke Primary School in Barnsley, resorted to playing games like Minecraft on her tablet.

“It saddened me to see Tanesha missing out on so much,” said Amanda.

“So I went on to Google to see if I could find a charity to support me.

“I have to say it’s been a Godsend during the summer holidays and has allowed us to get out and enjoy long summer days. And when Tanesha gets tired from walking she can sit back in the pushchair and have a rest. It’s made so much difference.”