A Northern Ireland couple are fundraising to help the neonatal until which saved their son's life.
Co Derry woman Mary Angela Taylor said the birth of her son Leo, who is a twin to sister Annie, was "very traumatic and complicated" in April 2021.
The mum-of-four and husband Johnny are currently raising funds for life-saving equipment for the neonatal unit at Antrim Area Hospital, and Mary Angela says any extra funds will go towards staff wellbeing.
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She is showing her thanks for the staff who supported her and Johnny through "the most traumatic time".
Mary Angela told Belfast Live: "Annie was a very calm gentle vaginal birth. And then Leo, it was the extreme opposite, very complicated, complete chaos and basically neonatal had to step in and save him."
In a GoFundMe post, the Moneymore woman said: "Leo was an emergency caesarean section under general anaesthetic and his Apgar score was 1/10 . He was extremely unwell. He was initially intubated as it took him over five [minutes] to spontaneously take his first breath.
"He then underwent a very tough 72 hours of cooling therapy to protect his little brain from any potential further damage from the lack of oxygen from birth.
"Within this period on two occasions we thought we had lost him as his vital signs started to drop after a suspected fit. However, the neonatal nurses and doctors were amazing and with a few interventions Leo continued to fight.
"We named him Leo after Leo the lion as he was born and had to fight from the very start but we also felt very strongly regarding his name choice as all the special incubators in the neonatal intensive care units were Babyleo TN500 incubators, so it was also a sign."
She added how a neonatal unit "is one place that no parent ever wants to have to enter".
In the post, Mary Angela continued: "You will always leave that unit a different person because you take with you that trauma.
"We acknowledge how very lucky we were to have [been] able to bring our little boy home with us.
"Our fundraising events will be based around the number 72 - because of the difficult 72 hour period of cooling that our son had to endure in the initial days of his life."
Mary Angela told Belfast Live that Leo was reunited with his twin Annie after eight days, with the family getting home from hospital the next day.
The mum-of-four, who is a physiotherapist, said little Leo is "a character".
"He wears wee hearing aids, he's got moderate hearing loss, and now wears glasses. He is a little bit behind but he doesn't get a break because I'm a physio.
"He wouldn't have crawled, only I made him crawl and I also got paediatric physio in on a weekly basis to help me.
"He would have missed crawling because he struggles a wee bit with head control and he doesn't like to be on his tummy, but I knew the importance of him having tummy time and him crawling to develop neuroplasticity...
"He doesn't really get a day off, the wee pet, but I try to do it in a fun way," she added.
Mary Angela has kicked off the fundraising as she planned to run a minimum total of 72 miles in 29 days, but has currently ran over 80 miles.
The first fundraising event will take place on Leo and Annie's second birthday on Saturday, April 29.
Mary Angela and her sister Kathy, The Mummy Physios, owners of Pilates & Physio Mid Ulster, are based at their HQ - The Home of Wellbeing, where the event is set to take place.
"We are using the fact that we have a community already here that will help support this fundraising event. They have been fantastic, we have been blown away by our own community," the Moneymore woman said.
The event will include a Lough Fea walk, classes, and birthday celebrations for Leo and Annie.
Over £4,500 has been raised to date. Various fundraising events are planned to take place right up to the twin's third birthday.
To donate to the fundraiser, CLICK HERE.
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