MIRACLE baby Ellie Stephenson defied doctors to battle her way back from the brink of death when she was a baby.
The nine-year-old from Jarrow has continued to astound medical experts, and her proud parents, Lisa and Gary Stephenson, have opened their hearts to talk of their “little miracle” as they get behind the lifesaving In Miley’s Memory campaign.
In Miley’s Memory is a campaign by the mum of 14-month-old Miley Turbitt to boost the number of organ donors.
Miley died in November while waiting for a heart transplant at Newcastle’s Freeman Hospital.
Ellie was born on October 22 in 2003 but was whisked away from her mum. It was six hours later that her parents discovered their third child was a girl, who was on a ventilator.
Ellie was suffering from Meconium aspiration syndrome – a serious condition where a newborn breathes a mixture of meconium and amniotic fluid into the lungs around the time of delivery.
Her body had been hooked up to 22 suction tubes in a bid to clear her lungs and keep her alive.
Mrs Stephenson said: “We were told she would have to go to the Royal Victoria Hospital, but then she was on her way to the Freeman Hospital as she needed to be hooked up to an ECMO machine.
“When the ambulance arrived, they had no idea she would survive the journey. All the way there, I just kept praying she would make it.
“When we got there, she was put straight on the machine. They said they didn’t know what the next steps would be. It was all down to Ellie.”
She added: “I remember sitting there next to her desperately wanting to hold her, but I couldn’t. It was awful – absolutely heartbreaking.”
Lisa, 41, and Gary, 38, stayed by their daughter’s bedside for six days until she was taken off the ECMO machine. She was later transferred to South Tyneside District Hospital, and two weeks later her elated parents were allowed to take her home.
However, the nightmare was far from over after doctors feared she may never learn to walk or talk. Her parents also had to learn how to feed her through a tube in her stomach and put her through a series of exercises each day in the hope it would strengthen her muscles.
For six months, she couldn’t be taken outside.
Ellie, who attends Valley View Primary School, in Jarrow, began to slowly improve and just before she was due to attend a hospital appointment she took her first steps.
Her progress soared and eventually not only did she learn to walk but to also talk, and she now sings and dances.
Lisa said: “I feel like the luckiest person alive. All the doctors involved with Ellie as a baby are amazed she is here, nevermind what she has achieved.
“Even though it’s been nine years, I still get emotional now when I think about how I could have lost her and I can’t thank everyone who was involved in her care enough for helping to save my little girl’s life.
“When she was ill, I prayed to everyone to help her to get through this. Now, when I see her on stage, I’m amazed at what she is doing.”
Twitter: @shieldsgazlisa
THE Stephenson family have described a South Tyneside mum driving a ‘life-saving campaign’ as an inspiration.
Sharon Eckert launched In Miley’s Memory after the death of her baby daughter, Miley Turbitt.
The 14-week-old, who suffered from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy lost her fight for life, last November, after a heart failed to be found in time.
In February – less than three months after Miley’s death – the 38-year-old launched the campaign in a bid to raise awareness of organ donation and encourage people to sign up to become a donor.
The mum-of-three is also campaigning for a change in the organ donation system to one which is automatic unless a person opts out.
Lisa Stephenson said: “I think it’s absolutely fantastic what Miley’s mum is doing.
“I am an organ donor and, God forbid, if anything happened to my children, then I would offer to donate their organs.
“I had a look through the window and stepped through the door of what it would be like to lose a child and I didn’t like it.
“Luckily I was able to come back through it, so the pain and heartache of what she is going through must be immense. ”
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