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| Mother's Day 2011 |
Gemma, 28, was pregnant when swine flu left her just hours from death at Christmas. She was put in a coma for 17 days while he was delivered 12 weeks prematurely.
Now the tot – just 2lbs at birth – has defied the odds and finally gone home after three months in an incubator battling for life.
Mum-of-five Gemma said: “When I look at him I think how unbelievably lucky we both are to be here. We have an extra bond because we went through so much together and had to fight for survival at the same time. He’s my little miracle boy. My husband calls us his Miracle Two.”
Gemma, of Evercreech, Somerset, fell ill on Christmas Day and rushed to hospital, where she was diagnosed with swine flu and pneumonia. She was put in an induced coma on December 26. She said: “When I went to hospital, I thought they would give me some antibiotics and that would be it.
“I was pleading with them to let me go home. It was Christmas.
“But the doctor said if I didn’t stay in I’d be a corpse the next morning. That really shook me. I’ll be grateful to that doctor for ever.”
Gemma’s kidneys also failed and, amid fears for her unborn tot, she moved to a London hospital – where her parents and trucker husband Martyn, 33, kept an anxious vigil.
When her temperature soared to 42.5C – 5.5C above normal – doctors decided to deliver Jacob.
The baby then faced his own battle for life as he had bleeding on the brain and needed a ventilator while his underdeveloped lungs struggled to cope.
His mum was brought round from the coma when he was five days old and has now regained 90% of her mobility.
Now looking forward to Mother’s Day with Jacob and his siblings Allanah-Leigh, 10, Samuel, eight, Olivia, six, and Maddison, four, she said: “It’s going to be extra-special for us as no one expected us both to be doing so well.”
Martyn added: “Looking at them together now is like winning the lottery a million times over. I can’t believe they are both here with me after everything they have been through.”
Sources: http://www.mirror.co.uk
