Dame Mary’s new honour
GOLDEN GIRL Mary Peters FORMER Olympian Dame Mary Peters has been appointed to the Order of the Garter by the Queen.
Dame Mary, from Lisburn, Northern Ireland, won gold in the pentathlon at the 1972 Olympics, held in Munich, Germany.
Her charity, the Mary Peters Trust, helps young Northern Irish sports stars on the path to success.
She will become a Lady Companion of the Order, the oldest and most senior British Order of Chivalry. THE world’s smallest baby boy, who weighed little more than a pack of butter, has gone home after six months in hospital.
The newborn, who was delivered by caesarian section at 24 weeks, arrived weighing just 268g (9.45oz).
Doctors believe he is the tiniest baby boy ever to survive and be discharged from hospital, according to a register of low-weight babies.
The unnamed infant was small enough to fit into a pair of cupped hands when he was born in August, in Tokyo,
His tiny hand grabs a finger, at just five days old
Japan. But last week, he was finally sent home – two months after his due date.
He had grown to 3.2kg (just over 7lbs) following months in intensive care.
His delighted mum said: “I can only say I’m happy that he has grown this big because, honestly, I wasn’t sure he could survive.” Doctor Takeshi Arimitsu, who Baby weighed in at 268g when he was born last August in Japan looked after the extraordinary tot at Tokyo’s Keio University Hospital, said he wanted to show “there is a possibility that babies will be able to leave the hospital in good health, even though they are born small”.
The previous record-holder for the smallest surviving baby boy was a newborn in Germany, who arrived at 24 weeks, in 2009, weighing 274g (9.66oz), according to the University of Iowa’s Tiniest Babies Register.
The smallest surviving baby girl was also born in Germany, in 2015, and reportedly weighed 252g (8.89oz).
Survival rates for tiny babies is lower Little battler on his way home among boys than girls, although the reasons are not understood.
According to the register, only 23 babies have been born prematurely weighing less than 300g (10.58oz) and survived, of which just four were boys.
Tiny Theo Taylor, who was born weighing less than a can of Coke, is thought to be smallest surviving baby boy in the UK.
The infant, from Durham, was released from hospital aged six months last year, after being delivered at 26 weeks weighing 350g (12.35oz).