A baby who was just minutes from death after being born three months early is now settling into life at school.
Leah Cook spent 16 weeks in hospital, 20 months on oxygen and has already had eight blood transfusions in her five short years.
The brave youngster – who weighed just 1lb 10oz when she was born – now has to take steroids every day after being diagnosed with a rare blood disorder that affects fewer than 1,000 people worldwide.
It means her body does not produce enough red bloods cells, and leaves her susceptible to certain types of cancer.
But as proud mum Jill watched Leah skip into school for the first time last week, she hailed her little girl “one of the lucky ones”.
The 37-year-old, from Mintlaw, said: “Five years ago, we didn’t know if she would even survive the birth.
“I went into hospital with severe pre-eclampsia at 27 weeks and their aim was to keep me in and deliver the baby between 30 and 33 weeks. Then they did a scan and it showed I had a placental abruption and they had to deliver immediately for either of us to have any chance.
“I was lucky I was already in hospital because if I had been at home, we wouldn’t have made it.”
Medics warned that the operation was high risk – with both mother-to-be and baby in danger.
Leah was delivered 13 weeks premature at Aberdeen Maternity Hospital, weighing just 1lb 10oz and was so tiny she fitted into the palm of her father Kevin’s hand.
Leah was whisked away and put on a ventilator, which she stayed on for her first week.
She was tube-fed for around 10 weeks and needed six blood transfusions during her 16-weeks in the neonatal unit, before she was finally allowed to go home,
Mrs Cook – who had to wait three weeks to hold Leah – “I remember the day they told us, I just broke down because I never thought I’d hear the words ‘you’re going home’ and once she was home she just thrived.”
Leah’s lungs were so underdeveloped she remained on 24-hour oxygen for a more than a year, and although she was meeting all the normal milestones by the time she was two, the family faced another setback.
Regular check-ups revealed her blood count was continuously low, and she needed a further two blood transfusions.
She was later diagnosed with Diamond-Blakfan anaemia, a rare genetic condition which causes bone marrow to malfunction and not make enough red blood cells, which carry oxygen around the body.
However, Leah has responded well to steroid medication, allowing her to enjoy the usual childhood antics – including playing with nine-year-old brother Callum.
Mrs Cook is now looking forward to watching her little girl thrive in the next chapter of her life.
“When she was in the neonatal unit we didn’t know if she would survive, or if she did, if she would be well enough to go to school so to see her now, it’s just amazing,” she said.
“There is no stopping her. She wants to do everything her big brother does. She’s just amazing.”