BATTLING Ellie-Mae Austen’s fighting spirit has earned her a lasting place in Birmingham’s history.

The eight-year-old, from Billesley, has been immortalised in bronze with her mum Rachel and teddy bear Joshua in an eye-catching statue at the iconic Cube building.

Ellie-Mae was born with a defect that put severe strain on the right side of her heart, forcing her to undergo open heart surgery when she was just 11 weeks old.

Cube bosses selected the pupil, from Billesley Primary School, as the inspiration for a ‘Lovely People’ statue, in which a stylised heart takes pride of place, as an example of the work done by Birmingham Children’s Hospital medics. Rachel and husband Darren Austen said they could not thank surgeons enough for “giving their beautiful daughter a normal life”.

The couple, who also have a 13-year-old daughter Megan and son Kyle, six, said Ellie-Mae was only days old when turned grey and her lips went blue.

Children’s Hospital doctors discovered the tot had a hole between the pumping chambers of her heart, which would lead to heart failure if left untreated.

Heart consultant Dr Oliver Stumper said her only hope was open heart surgery.