WHEN little Albie Mellor was born 14 weeks prematurely, he weighed as much as a bag of sugar.

For the next nine weeks, brave Albie battled for his life, with parents Tyler and Michala unsure of whether he would ever make it home.

Miraculously Albie, who was diagnosed with chronic lung disease, pulled through the worst of it and was discharged from hospital.

He is set to celebrate his first birthday in May.

Tyler, 21, and Michala, 35, from Rowhedge, were overwhelmed with the support they received from The Sick Children’s Trust throughout the ordeal.

The charity supported the parents by providing accommodation while Albie was treated at The Rosie Hospital, in Cambridge.

Tyler, a Colchester-based soldier, said: “Albie was born on May 31, 2016 at just 26 weeks and two days.

“He weighed 2lb 1oz which, considering how early he came, was a strong weight.

“He was born in Colchester Hospital but he was taken straight away from us – we didn’t even manage to get a cuddle.

“It wasn’t until he was five hours old that we got to meet our son.

“Although it broke our hearts we knew it was because the neonatal team were working so hard to give our little man the best fighting chance, so he could be transferred to The Rosie Hospital for life-saving treatment.”

When Albie arrived at Cambridge he was extremely fragile, and was intubated to help him breathe.

The distraught parents watched their tiny son fight for every single breath.

Tyler added: “When Albie was just a few days old, we really thought we were going to lose him.

“It seemed like he was getting better, so much so that the doctors decided he was ready to be extubated and put on a ventilator.

“But Albie stopped breathing, and Michala and I were there watching the nightmare unfold right in front of our eyes.”

He added: “This wouldn’t be the last time we saw this happen.

“Albie stopped breathing suddenly a lot, and as any parent with a seriously ill child in hospital will know, the sound of the emergency call is the worst.

“Everything can be all calm and cool one minute then all of a sudden machines start bleeping, the emergency call goes and the next thing you know the incubator lid is up and an influx of doctors and nurses come running through the door.

“Thankfully though, half the time this happened, Albie would just open his eyes look around and start breathing again.”

Tyler and Michala were provided with free accommodation by The Sick Children’s Trust, enabling them to stay by Albie’s side.

As the days and weeks went by, doctors noticed Albie’s temperature drop and his oxygen requirement increase drastically, leading to the decision to ventilate the struggling baby.

The parents were told Albie had chronic lung disease due to being born prematurely.

Tyler said: “The doctor explained all about it, but we needed to know whether our son would pull through.

“The scariest moment of our whole journey was when the doctor replied that he didn’t know if he would.

“Every day we woke up not knowing what the day ahead would bring.

“Having the support of The Sick Children’s Trust helped us enormously with coping with the uncertainty.

“We were staying just minutes from Albie’s side in the charity’s ‘Home from Home’ Chestnut House.

“Without this place we would not have coped physically, emotionally or financially.”

Albie continued to deteriorate and his oxygen requirements were increasing constantly.

He was even put on steroids to help strengthen his lungs, but it was once the decision was made to put Albie on an oscillator that doctors began to see a change.

“We couldn’t believe it,” said Tyler.

“We thought our son was dying, living the last few days of his life but then he fought just a little bit harder and finally everything was heading back in the right direction.

“After a very rough nine weeks in Cambridge, our little monkey had worked and fought so hard and he was weaned down on his oxygen.

“He had been on the radar to be transferred back to Colchester for a couple weeks and when the day finally arrived, it was the best.

“We were told in the morning they were ready to transfer Albie back and within a couple of hours Albie was on the road heading back to where he started his journey.

“He was even reunited with the doctor that resuscitated him at birth. “We spent four weeks at Colchester in the NICU, but generally he was constantly improving.

“At Colchester, we started talking about the day we had been waiting for – bringing our baby home.”

He added: “Taking Albie out of the hospital grounds was terrifying, but as soon as we got him home it just felt natural.

“By the time Albie turned seven months old he weighed over 16lbs, which is something we never thought would happen.

“His oxygen is on the lowest flow rate it could be and he has started to do periods of time off oxygen as well.

“We couldn’t thank everyone who has helped on this rollercoaster of a journey enough.”

  • THE grateful parents of a newborn baby who fought back from the brink of death to make it home are appealing for supporters to get behind a charity’s campaign.

Tyler and Michala Mellor say they are eternally grateful to The Sick Children’s Trust, who provided free accommodation to the pair while their baby Albie was cared for at The Rosie Hospital, in Cambridge.

They are getting behind the charity’s Big Chocolate Tea campaign.

It costs The Sick Children’s Trust £30 to support a family for a night in one of its ten ‘Homes from Home’, relying entirely on voluntary donations to meet this cost.

Last year, Big Chocolate Tea raised £60,000 which gave 2,000 families free accommodation.

Abi Abdel-aal, manager at Chestnut House, where Tyler and Michala stayed, said: “It’s lovely that Tyler and Michala are asking others to support The Sick Children’s Trust’s Big Chocolate Tea campaign.

“When a baby is seriously ill, it’s an incredibly difficult time and The Sick Children’s Trust helps ease some of the worries families have by keeping them together by their baby’s side.

“Big Chocolate Tea is such a great campaigns as it the perfect way for supporters to get together with friends, family and colleagues over a nice cuppa and chocolate treat.”

Supporters can choose to take part in Big Chocolate Tea at any point during the year and will receive a free fundraising pack full of goodies to hold their own event.

For more information and to request a pack, visit sickchildrenstrust.org/bigchoctea.