IN her young life, little Evie Doherty has faced some enormous challenges.

At two-years-old she needed a heart transplant as her heart was dilating and she was hooked up to a mechanical heart at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London until last year.

Evie underwent a life-saving heart transplant.

However, she is still battling the effects of her time attached to the mechanical heart.

Evie suffered a number of strokes while she was on the machine as her blood had clotted. As a result has lost feeling in her left side.

Now four, she is unable to walk unaided and is unable to see properly. But to her parents’ surprise and admiration, she has still managed to reach new milestones and is tackling her recovery head-on.

Her mother, Nicole, 31, said: “Since we came out of hospital about a year ago Evie has come so far. She is just incredible.

“We have started fundraising for her to have physiotherapy so she will be able to walk unaided and regain the use of her hand.

“It took us all a long time to adjust, she has an aid around her ankle that helps keep her heel on the floor, but she is fiercely independent and she rejected any kind of walking frame.”

As Evie is not aware of her left side, she finds playing and moving around difficult.

Nicole and her husband Paul, 32, who live near Colchester, have just spent £200 on an electronic stimulating machine to help Evie’s brain connect with her muscles and joints.

Nicole said: “There is so much equipment we are planning to get her like vibration machines and wobble boards.

“It will be so good for her rehabilitation, she will have to have physio for the rest of her life, this isn’t a quick fix.”

The family needs to raise £8,000 for Evie to have a year of special therapy at Kids Physio Works in Copford.

They already have enough money for her to undertake an in - tense course for four weeks at the end of July with daily three-hour sessions.

She is due to start school in September and Nicole hopes by this time she will be in a better position.

She said: “It’s a story of hope, she was staring death in the face repeatedly but she continues to hit new milestones. She is our lit - tle super hero.”

 Evie is even having 13 inches of her hair cut off before she starts school to donate to the Little Princess Trust. All money raised will go towards her physiotherapy.

To donate visit www.gofundme.com/eviesmarathon2017