Michelle Haley
they realised something was wrong.
And at just a few hours old, Mila, who was delivered by caesarean section on July 2, 2016, was rushed by ambulance from Crosshouse Hospital in Ayr to Glasgow Children’s Hospital for specialist care.
She had a rare condition called TOF/ OA vacterl, which causes a combination of feeding and cardiac anomalies.
Mila was only two days old when she had her first operation to detach her windpipe from her oesophagus and attach her oesophagus to her stomach to enable her to swallow.
But she had to wait a further eight weeks for her heart operation.
Michelle said: “When they first told us what was wrong I just broke down. You just don’t expect it. You just assume you’re having a little girl and after a couple of days in hospital you will get to take her home.”
Instead the first time she properly held her baby was just before she was whisked 40 miles away.
The mother- of- one, who was still recovering from having a caesarean, said: “It was like saying goodbye. We were holding our daughter and we couldn’t help wonder if it was going to be the last time.”
Now to thank the hospital which saved their daughter’s life and the charities which have helped them through their ordeal, earlier this month Michelle and her partner raised hundreds of pounds by completing the Great Scottish Run.
Michelle, an account delivery manager, said: “Mila is now just over one year old, a milestone that at points we didn’t think she