GEMMA Marshall is nothing short of an inspiration. After being diagnosed with a rare heart condition aged 18, she was determined to prove that she was still capable of anything, and she's done exactly that.

Arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy means that Mrs Marshall's heart can suddenly stop beating and she suffered a series of 'drop attacks' and seizures before medical experts decided to fit a pacemaker.

Just a few years ago, the former Millom School pupil decided she would not allow her condition to control her life and she embarked on a fitness regime.

"I didn't want my heart to hold me back and I wanted to prove to myself that it wouldn't stop me from doing anything," she said.

After completing the Great North Run three times, Mrs Marshall, now 30, set her sights on the London Marathon.

On Sunday, not only did she finish the marathon, but despite being advised against it by doctors, she crossed the finishing line in a superb time of 3:46:42.

The junior engineer at Sellafield has another, even bigger, reason to continue her incredible fitness journey. Her six-year-old daughter Olivia has recently been diagnosed with the same condition and a week on Monday will be fitted with her own pacemaker.

"They never thought it could be hereditary but then she had a fall at school and the teachers said it was strange because she was running and just collapsed," Mrs Marshall, of Hodgson Gardens in Millom, said.

"Then I saw it for myself and knew she had the same thing.

"A few weeks before the marathon I had a bad car accident and cracked my pelvis. But nothing was going to stop me doing the marathon; not only did I have to do it for myself but I had to do it for Olivia too."

Mrs Marshall already has a pacemaker fitted and Olivia is due to have one fitted at Alder Hey Children's Hospital later this month.

Throughout the last three years, Mrs Marshall has raised more than £25,000 for the British Heart Foundation, in a bid to give something back to the experts who have helped to keep her alive.

Olivia, a pupil at Haverigg School, has supported her mum every step of the way.