A premature baby who caught Covid has made a miraculous recovery after being given just hours to live by doctors.
Mum-of-four Chloe Connolly, 25, gave birth to twins Esmaè and Averly McGuinness on September 7.
The twins were born nine weeks early at their parents’ home in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire.
Chloe delivered the girls herself with partner Darren McGuinness before the babies were rushed to the University Hospital Wishaw.
She felt sudden pains and phoned an ambulance with paramedics arriving 28 minutes later to find the babies already born.
While in hospital, Averly caught covid - which she was particularly vulnerable to as she has a chronic lung disease.
Doctors transferred her to the Royal Children’s Hospital in Glasgow were she was put into a coma and hooked up to a ventilator.
A devastated Chloe feared she would not survive and began making funeral arrangements - but after two weeks being treated by specialists, Averly was reunited with her twin in the Wishaw neonatal unit.
The twins are now seven months old and both suffer from chronic lung disease, but it is hoped they may outgrow it.
Chloe said: “It has been a complete rollercoaster for us, we didn’t think she would survive to start with.
“The doctors had told us we were looking at hour by hour, they couldn’t even say she had days left.
“They transferred her to the Royal Children’s Hospital and had a neonatal surgeon in the ambulance in case anything went really wrong.
“We drove behind them and I couldn’t help but think how I was about to have to plan a funeral for her soon.
“I started to think about flowers and arrangements in my head, it was horrible.”
On October 4 the worried parents were told it was unlikely Averly would survive.
But after spending 14 days at Royal Children’s Hospital, and then returning to the Wishaw neonatal unit, the twins were both discharged on November 12.
“Thankfully I didn’t have to do that [plan the funeral] because after being put in a coma and on a ventilator she started to get better. We couldn’t believe it.
“Averly had so many drips but slowly doctors started taking them off her and we realised she was getting much stronger. After two weeks she was even able to leave the Royal.
“When she came back to the Wishaw neonatal unit the staff were all shocked to see her.
“I don’t know how she did it, she was so tiny and just had the strength to pull through.”
Chloe added: “None of it really hit me till recently.
“I feel like a different person now compared to then. It has been a lot but the NHS has been so great.
“The doctors and nurses have all been so brilliant, everyone we came across has been so supportive and really helpful.”
