​A TODDLER who was born with only half a heart has defied the odds to take his first steps.

The move marks an immense milestone for Scunthorpe youngster Tristan Montaque, 3, a year after he survived a crucial four-hour operation in London.

Delighted mum Kerry Card, 30, of Scunthorpe, said: “Tristan’s up and away now, walking all over the place.

“He took his first steps at my sister’s house.

“He wasn’t too sure what to make of it, but now he’s running around everywhere.

“It’s all very strange. We have waited two years for this to happen. We were losing hope of Tristan ever being able to walk. But now he’s zipping around.”

Tristan, who was born in June 2007, was the first child in North Lincolnshire to be diagnosed with a rare life-threatening illness called hypoplastic left heart syndrome.

He has undergone three major operations to relieve the blood flow to and from his lungs and help give him a relatively normal childhood. A year ago, the battling toddler defied all the odds by staying in intensive care for less than a day, following his last operation in the Evelina’s Children’s Hospital in London.

At the time, one of Britain’s top cardiac surgeons, David Anderson, who led the 33-strong team, said he hoped the third and final operation would give Tristan a quality of life worth living.

Since leaving London, there has been another major change in the life of the miracle boy.

Kerry said: “Tristan started at St Luke’s School in Scunthorpe and he’s absolutely loving it.

“He’s fitted in rather well and has already melted the hearts of some of the teachers with his cheeky smiles and laughs.

“He gets so excited when the bus pulls up outside our house to collect him. I went to see him in his Christmas concert and he wore a little Joseph costume.

“I cried very emotional, but happy, tears. Compared with this time last year, we all enjoyed a more relaxed Christmas atmosphere at home.

“We enjoyed normality for the first time in three years. Tristan’s future is still unknown, but we are hoping there will be many more happy Christmases to come.

“Tristan will continue part-time at school until September, when he will go full-time and I can look forward to going back to work.”

The next big step for the foot-loose youngster will be a heart transplant, possibly when he is a teenager.

Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome affects about one in 5,000 babies.

Its cause is unknown, although research has linked it to genetic factors.

In babies affected by the condition, the valves on the left side of the heart are either too small to allow blood to flow through, or are closed altogether.

Without treatment, the condition is fatal, but infants can survive following intervention.