CHRISTMAS MIRACLES
We catch up with premature babies you helped save last Christmas by raising £100k – and they are thriving
THESE tiny tots really are Christmas miracles.
All were born premature last year, each weighing less than a bag of sugar – but just look at them now.
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The Sun met them in December 2018 when we travelled to hospitals up and down the country to hand out goody bags to families being looked after on neo-natal wards.
Together with charity Bliss, which helps ill and premature babies, Sun readers raised more than £100,000 to support poorly newborns.
Here, we catch up with these gorgeous youngsters and their parents to hear how Christmas will be very different this year.
Elena
ELENA Austin was born at 24 weeks in October 2018 at Barnet Hospital, North London, weighing 1lb 7oz. Mum Simone, 35, and dad Chris, 31, run a branding business from their home in Borehamwood, Herts. They also have six-year-old Joey and 15-week-old Damien.
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Simone said: “When Elena was born, her body was the size of my mobile phone.
“Last Christmas Day was horrible. When I saw the nurses had dressed her in a Christmas outfit, I just broke. I cried for an hour straight.
“This year will be our first proper Christmas with her, and she might be walking by then. She’s pulling herself up to standing and she’s like a little rocket crawling now.
“And she is a lovely big sister to Damien.”
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Teddy
TEDDY Bennetts was born at 27 weeks in November 2018 at Heartlands Hospital, Birmingham, weighing 2lb 6oz. Mum Jade Bennetts, 29, an accounts assistant, also has son Reagan, eight. Dad Jake Gallagher, 26, a transport controller, also has daughter Esmae, four.
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Jade said: “Teddy was in critical care for nine days. Around August, he suddenly started sitting, rolling and crawling.
“He’s 16lb now and people still think he’s six months old. They look very confused when they see him tottering along with his walker.”
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Olivia
OLIVIA Dawson was born in October 2018 at 27 weeks at Pinderfields Hospital, West Yorks, weighing just under 2lb. Mum Lucy, 39, a nurse, and dad Richard, 38, a security surveyor, who live in Heckmondwike, West Yorks, also have son Jack, six.
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Lucy said: “There have been ups and downs over the year but Olivia has amazed us all. She’s a little diva. She certainly knows how to make herself heard.”
Richard added: “Olivia is due to have a brain scan in the New Year to check for cerebral palsy. But we’re looking forward to her first proper Christmas. She’ll get her first visit to Santa, too.”
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Cain & Kian
TWINS Cain and Kian were born at Burnley’s Women’s and Newborn Centre in October 2018 at 30 weeks. Cain weighed 2lb 2oz and Kian 2lb 8oz. They live in Bradford with mum Lisa-Marie Roberts, 38, who also has daughters Katy, 13, and Chloe, ten.
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Lisa said: “I had the boys in Burnley because there weren’t enough cots in Bradford, then they were transferred back at five days old. I still hadn’t held either of them then.
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“Christmas Day was tough. The boys didn’t need special care but they weren’t well enough to come home. The staff did their best to make the day special. There was a Christmas dinner, I dressed the boys in little outfits and some family came to visit.
“On Boxing Day, the doctors told me I could take them home. It was really special because I could take them to see my mum, who was ill with dementia. Sadly, she passed away in January.
“I haven’t planned what we’re doing for Christmas. Going through what we did, I’ve learned to just live for the moment.”
Sun at 50 - How Sun Savers donated to premature babies charity Bliss and the impact it had on readers' lives
Three dads share their experiences with their premature babies and how Bliss helped them
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