UK baby considered ‘a walking miracle’ by mum

October 11, 2009 by Shawn Douglas
Filed under: News

Lucy Young of East Sussex was resigned to the fact that her premature baby probably wasn’t going to make it. Her baby son, Stirling, was born 16 weeks early and weighed only 1.1 pounds when born. Additionally, the doctors found that Stirling had a hole in one of his heart valves, two empty spaces in his brain, and problems with his lungs.

But each day would pass, and little Stirling would still be alive.

“He made that night and the next and the next,” Lucy told People. “He was read his last rites over and over. Every day there was a new problem.”

“It was an emotional rollercoaster for two years. They said he might be blind and deaf, that he would never walk. Then they feared he might have autism.”

But Stirling continued to fight, and things started healing. The hole in his heart valve miraculously closed up. The empty spaces in Stirling’s brain tissue didn’t seem to be affecting his cognitive ability. The meningitis he had seemed to disappear.

Now Stirling is four years old and is considered “a walking miracle” by Lucy.

“I never thought we would see this day. It was such an emotional moment for me to dress him in his uniform and walk him to the gates but he couldn’t wait,” she said.

“He has been through so much in his short life. Doctors can not understand how he has hurdled so many obstacles.”

Stirling is now attending Goldstone primary school and excelling at math. He still gets regular checkups with doctors, but everything appears to be fine for the young lad.

Lucy has also started a charity called Stirling’s Donation. The charity raises money for the Trevor Mann baby unit at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton, the place where baby Stirling staid the first four months of his life.