THE X FACTOR'S JASON OWEN 'SHE'S CHANGED OUR LIVES!'

After a dramatic start, the country crooner is settling into life as a new dad

- Jenny Brown

Gently singing a lullaby to his beautiful baby daughter, country singer Jason Owen feels doubly blessed that tiny Lyla Rose is alive and thriving.

The X Factor star and his beloved wife Becy could so easily have lost their little girl through a freak prenatal car crash, then in a terrifying medical crisis only hours after her birth. “It was pretty traumatic," says the proud, and mightily relieved, first-time father. “Thankfully, touch wood, Lyla is very, very healthy today and she's absolutely beautiful.

“But it was bloody horrific to see Becy and Lyla rushed off in an ambulance, lights flashing and sirens going, with tubes up the baby's nose and down her throat. It's something many parents have experienced, but now I know how that feels."

Jason was runner-up in season four.

Previously, when Becy was seven-and-a-half months pregnant, she was lucky to escape serious injury when her car was tail-ended at traffic lights on her way home from work. It was a horrible jolt for the mum-to-be - and for Jason, who rushed to be by her side.

“Of course, the first thing that goes through your mind is the worst case scenario," admits the affable 28-year-old, a "born romantic" who proposed live on national TV three years ago. "The crash was a massive jolt that threw Becy forwards, so it could have put her into early labour. Honestly, it was scary.”

HEALTHY BABY