The grieving parents of a nursery nurse today spoke of her bravery in living with a coronary time bomb.

Heart defect sufferer Claire Sutcliffe, 27, died suddenly as she dressed for work on Tuesday at her home in Providence Crescent, Oakworth.

Terry and Christine Sutcliffe said their daughter had continually defied her condition in an extraordinary effort to live life to the full.

Claire underwent a series of operations since doctors gave her only three weeks to live when she was born with transposition of the greater arteries.

At the age of four she suffered a stroke during a minor operation which left her completely paralysed. She recovered but had to learn to walk again.

And in 1988 Claire underwent an open-heart operation in which surgeons rated her chance of surviving at just five per cent.

She was only the second person world-wide to receive the radical new surgery, which involved removing arteries from her arm and installing them in her heart.

Mr Sutcliffe said Claire "never looked back" after the operations and was determined not to let the condition inhibit her life.

"Claire always knew that something like this could happen at any moment but she put it to the back of her mind and made the most of life.

"We are absolutely devastated by what has happened. She was such a lively person. It was completely out of the blue."

Claire suffered heart failure only two months after doctors had given her a full bill of health. At about the same time, her pen friend in Essex received a letter from Claire in which she revealed her plans to marry her long-term boyfriend Jonathan Webster.

Claire, a former pupil of Oakbank School, began working with children at Keighley Community Nursery in May last year after working in Chicago as a child nanny. She regularly visited the gym and had recently learned to drive.

Mrs Sutcliffe said: "Claire always fought to overcome her condition in everything she did. It didn't stop her doing anything.

"Her strength of character was unbelievable. If she wanted something, she got it."

Lillian Miller, manager of the Keighley nursery, said: "Claire will be greatly missed, not just as a staff member but as a good, caring friend to staff, children and parents."

Claire leaves a sister Rachel, 30, and a niece, Leah, two.