mother and daughter Jackie and Ellie Jones are running Sunday’s Surrey Half--Marathon against all the odds.

A few years ago, it didn’t look like Ellie - who is also running the London Marathon next month – could have risen to the challenge after an emergency trip to a hospital in Singapore, revealed she had two previously hidden heart defects.

Following treatment at the Royal Brompton Hospital, which involved a complex and delicate procedure to insert a device into the chambers of her heart, Ellie was given the all clear to continue her job as a professional diver.

But she opted to pursue her interest in running and changed her career direction to become a marketing communications manager for an event management company. That was all going well until a problem with her hip emerged, which put paid to her running ambitions

Following yet more treatment, this time at the North Downs Hospital, again involving surgery, the hip problem was also consigned to history and it was all systems go again on the running front.

Jackie and Ellie, from Haslemere (pictured), are raising money for a health-related cause, the Multiple Sclerosis Charity. You can sponsor them at www. justgiving.com/fundraising/Ellie- Jones14, or by going to The Prince of Wales pub, in Hammer Bottom, and guessing Ellie’s finish time for the London Marathon.

To read more about the ‘Come Back Kid’, who has been accepted for London at her third attempt visit: www.thirdtimeluckyweb.wordpress.com