Brave teenager Claire Webster has won a special award after battling on after open heart surgery.

Claire, 17, of Horspath Road, Cowley, Oxford, was diagnosed with a heart condition the day before her 16th birthday in April last year.

But after her operation and successful recovery, she was named an outstanding achievement winner by the British Red Cross and awarded the Barbara Steward Memorial Cup.

Claire, who has been involved with the Red Cross since she was nine, said: "I was pretty upset when the doctor said I would have to have an operation. I was crying.

"I had gone to the doctors because I kept getting blackouts when it was too hot. I didn't know I was so ill."

She was rushed in for open heart surgery last July and spent two weeks in hospital.

But determined Claire did not let the operation hold her back.

She even took a first aid exam on the day a wire was removed from her chest.

Claire, a student at Oxford College of Further Education, said: "I was a bit nervous about the exam but after I went through with it, everything was okay. I passed.

"I feel happy to have won the cup. I have been going round college telling everyone.

"They've asked me to bring it in and show them."

Claire said she now felt fine and very healthy. She is studying for a diploma in care and has completed a course on looking after small children. She is now studying care of the elderly.

Claire continued going to the Red Cross as a volunteer throughout her illness and has been involved with the charity since she was nine.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.