We'd watched our lifeless baby for 50 minutes and been told to say goodbye...but our little battler made it

AMAZING Willow Seagrave and her delighted parents are full of smiles as they celebrate the birthday it was feared the "little miracle" would never see.

- Matthew Barbour

Mum Chloe and dad Cole had been told to say goodbye to Willow when she was just three weeks old after she suffered two massive cardiac arrests and her heart stopped beating for over 50 minutes.

A team of 24 doctors and nurses pulled out all the stops to restart her heart and, after 30 minutes of CPR, the brave youngster briefly regained consciousness.

But seconds later she suffered another arrest, and the fight to save her life started all over again.

After 20 minutes, doctors told Chloe and Cole they had done everything they could, to no avail.

But the couple implored the medics to try one more time - and, three minutes later, Willow's heart restarted and continued to beat.

Now Willow and her parents have celebrated her first birthday surrounded by friends and family.

Chloe, 24, said: "We'd watched our lifeless baby for over 50 minutes, and were told her time was up, it was time to say goodbye. We begged them to try again.

"They said they would try CPR for five more minutes. They told us that even if she did survive, the brain damage would be unliveable.

"But I told them we couldn't just give up on her.