The mother of a toddler with a rare heart condition is raising money to train doctors in a new surgical technique.

Two-year-old Emmeline Feil, from Oldfield Park, was born with Ebstein's Anomaly, a heart defect where a valve is abnormally formed and sits lower than normal.

Her mother Katy Turner, 32, is fundraising to bring a Brazilian surgeon to Bristol to train doctors to treat the condition.

When Emmeline was born at the Royal United Hospital, doctors quickly realised something was wrong.

Tests were done, and Katy, a scientist at Bristol University, and her husband Ed Feil, 41, a scientist at the University of Bath, were told she had Ebstein's.

Katy said: "Doctors quickly realised what the problem was.

"If they hadn't diagnosed her so soon she may not have survived."

Emmeline was sent to Bristol Children's Hospital, where she spent two weeks in intensive care, and has since had surgery to improve the blood supply to her lungs. Katy said that Emmeline's immune system was now much stronger, although she still has six-monthly check-ups at the RUH.

"Now she is a typical cheeky two year old, and to look at her you would never know what she had been through."

Katy is raising money for the Ebstein's Society, of which Ed is chair of the trustees, to bring Brazilian Dr Jose Da Silva to Bristol.

Dr Da Silva, who is an expert in the condition, will train a paediatric cardiac surgeon in the new surgical technique of cone reconstruction, which allows doctors to get a closer look at heart valves.

Katy held a sponsored pram push in Royal Victoria Park at the weekend, which raised £1,000 towards her £5,000 target.

For more information on the society and how to donate, visit

www.ebsteins.org

.