A LITTLE girl with a big smile defied her doctors’ gloomy prognosis after her dramatic entry into the world.

Alicia Collins was not expected to survive the night when she was stillborn after being delivered by emergency caesarean section.

During the 22 minutes it took to resuscitate the baby, her brain was deprived of oxygen. She defied the odds and battled through but was left brain damaged and with severe dystonic cerebral palsy.

Mum Cindy and dad Craig were told she would not be able to move her arms but would be able to smile.

Now nearly four, she is a very happy child, rarely without a beaming face – who continually surprises her parents with just what she can do.

“I love seeing Alicia wake in the morning as she just smiles from the moment she wakes until she goes to bed,” said Cindy.

She is able to move her arms and legs in water – this is her favourite activity.

Alicia is a regular visitor to Julia’s House, where she enjoys the attentions of carers, a good sing-song and getting messy creating works of art.

Twice a week she is visited at home by carer Barbara, who has been helping with a physiotherapy programme and once a month Alicia, Cindy and Alicia’s brother Coby, two, attend the children’s hospice toddler group.

“We love the group Coby enjoys playing with the toys, Alicia enjoys watching him and I enjoy talking to the carers – a great morning for us.”

Little Alicia needs medication four times a day and is fed through a tube into her stomach. She is prone to vomiting and also suffers from epileptic seizures. She cannot tolerate loud noises as she gets startled and gets so upset she vomits and can take up to half an hour to calm down.

“Julia’s House is a huge help and support to us as Alicia is very demanding and sometimes Coby can suffer because of this. When Alicia is at the hospice, it gives Coby and me time together to go swimming or to our local toddler group. Alicia is always so happy when I sign to her that she is going to the house and when she is there we can relax knowing she is in safe hands.

“It is hard to leave your child with others even when they are healthy and it is even more difficult with a child with complex needs. No words can really explain how much Julia’s House helps us.”

You can help Julia’s House, Lewis-Manning and Forest Holme hospices raise badly needed funds and remember a loved one this Christmas by making a donation to Light Up A Life. Readers can fill in and return the coupon of the Daily Echo backed appeal here.

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