Sister running London Marathon for heart charity

A young Bristol woman is planning to run the London Marathon in aid of her "admirable" brother, who suffers with a congenital heart defect.

Elena Morris, 22, from Bradley Stoke aims to complete the challenge on Sunday in aid of the British Heart Foundation (BHF), which has supported her 19-year-old brother since birth.

Callum was born with the condition truncus arteriosus meaning his heart only has one main blood vessel taking blood away from the heart instead of two.

Due to the condition, Callum has already had five open heart surgeries.

Speaking to John Darvall on BBC Radio Bristol, Elena said Callum was diagnosed with his condition shortly after being born.

"It's when he was developing in my mum's tummy, his aortic tubes didn't form properly," she said.

"They're normally meant to split into two, but his stayed into one.

"It was picked up by the doctors after he was born, through listening to his heart before he got discharged.

"So at 13-days-old he had open heart surgery, where they put in an artificial tube to act as that aortic valve."

The BHF funds research into better ways of treating heart conditions, including ongoing work by Callum's surgeon.

"His research looks into using stem cells to grow that tube instead of (using) an artificial tube, which would mean that children wouldn't have to go through multiple surgeries," Elena said.

Callum has had five open heart surgeries to date to replace the valve as he grows, which would not be necessary if the valve could be grown as his surgeon hopes.

"How he still has all the strength and determination he does have is truly admirable," Elena said.

The operations have taken a significant toll, with Callum suffering a stroke during his most recent stay in hospital, from which he is now recovering.

Elena meanwhile, has been training for the marathon since November.

"I think, to see what my brother's been though, just to see what he's gone through, if he's gone through all of that I can run a marathon," she said.

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