A doting dad has recalled the heart-wrenching moment medics asked him whether they should save the life of his baby son or fiancee when she went into premature labour at just 24 weeks.
Dad-of-six Michael McConnell, from Falkirk, said a medic pulled him to one side and whispered: "If push comes to shove, who survives, mum or baby?" His partner Stephanie Brown, 29, was giving birth to the couple's son Michael, known as Mickey, at 16 weeks early on November 8 last year.
Despite the most traumatic of births, Mickey arrived with "an almighty roar" that stunned medics. The youngster is now being treated at Edinburgh's Sick Kids.
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The 33-year-old dad told how his heart "froze" when he was faced with his worst nightmare. He told the Record: "There were complications during Steph's pregnancy and she began leaking amniotic fluid from 18 weeks.
"She went through a real horrific time towards the end, we didn’t think Mickey was going to make it. Steph was feeling really unwell as she had been trying to hold onto my boy for as long as she could to give him the best chance of survival.
"During doing so, the umbilical cord collapsed putting both her and my unborn boy in grave danger. When the doctor asked who I would save during her labour, I felt numb.
"My heart stopped, I thought I was going to leave that building alone. I’ve felt loss in the worst of ways before and I thought I’d have to feel it again. There’s no word to describe the fear I felt. I was in a very emotional, complex and dangerous predicament.
"Everyone was sceptical about my son's survival so when I learned Steph's life was in danger too, my heart froze. In that moment, all I cared about was her being ok. I just wanted her home.
"She battled hard and continues to battle hard for her children. I’ll always admire her for that. Losing her was an impossible option for me..."
Since being born eight months ago, Mickey has had more than his fare share of scares. In his short life he's already been admitted to four different hospitals and is now settled at the Sick Kids in Edinburgh.
He has cysts on his lungs, a lot of scar tissue due to the ventilation trauma he has experienced, and also has a possible lung deformity. And because of this, Mickey still hasn’t been home allowed home yet.
He has just started to build a bond with his five siblings. But unfortunately his brothers and sisters weren't allowed in to see him until he was six months old.
Michael explained: "Mickey was looking good a few weeks back, we were preparing to get him home. He was in Forth Valley neonatal unit but took a turn for the worst. He deteriorated so fast. After six hours of uncertainty, he was put on a ventilator and sedated.
"They tried everything to avoid him being put on it as there was a real fear of Michael not being able to recover or get off of it. This was the scariest time of all for me and Steph.
"They’ve had him on different types of steroids and are slowly weaning him from them. They say the steroids have a honeymoon period of a couple of weeks.
"Then it will be down to Mickey to be strong enough to carry on without them. We are told he could deteriorate again during this time, so are all praying that doesn’t happen. I have faith in my boy's resilience. He’s been through hell and still finds time to smile."
Sadly Michael and Steph, who have six children between them, are no strangers to tragedy. The couple lost another baby boy two years ago. Tragically their son was stillborn at 21 weeks, which Michael described as a 'terrifying ordeal'.
And when little fighter Mickey was born weighing just 1lbs 3oz, he surprised even medical staff by arriving with an almighty roar. Musician Michael gushed: "No one in the theatre could believe he’d made it. It was such a big voice from such a small and fragile being.
"He was rushed away to safety and has since fought every day since. Steph had held on just long enough. He was here and they were both alive. The relief I felt was massive."
Mickey's heartwarming story recently featured on BBC documentary Tiny Lives, which you can watch here.
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