A young North Belfast boy has defied the odds and started walking after being told it is something that he would never be able to do.
Three-year-old Shea Kelly was born in dramatic circumstances at just 24 weeks when his mum Megan had gone on a trip to Carlingford and after experiencing pains throughout the day unexpectedly went into labour.
The worried mum quickly rushed Shea to Daisy Hill hospital in Newry, while performing CPR on him, and was told upon arrival that the young boy could end up severely disabled.
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Shea was then transferred to the Royal Victoria Hospital, where Megan was told again that he may not survive the night and the following day he suffered a bleed on the brain and required surgery.
Doctors asked Megan if she wanted to turn off his life support machine as Shea would have "no quality of life", but she refused because his heart was still beating and she felt that he was going to continue fighting.
Shea then spent four and a half months in hospital where he underwent 10 different surgeries, contracted a number of infections including sepsis and began to develop a heart murmur. During that time Megan was asked again to turn off his life support machine but she refused.
He eventually returned home on November 21, 2019, and Megan says that Shea has "never looked back" and started to overcome all of the difficulties he has faced to be "the happiest boy you could ever meet".
Megan said: "With Shea being born so premature we knew there were going to be difficulties but never imagined what he would have to go through during those four and a half months in hospital.
"I was told that he would never walk or talk and would be completely blind, with the doctors asking twice whether or not I wanted to turn off his life support, which was something that I just could not do because I knew that he was still fighting.
"He went through so many different surgeries and procedures and was using a full oxygen tank just days before he was sent home. But once he got here he never looked back and has never needed the oxygen again.
"Shea now has cerebral palsy and epilepsy but has continued to keep battling and the progress that has made it incredible."
This week, almost three years to the day that Shea was brought home from the hospital, he has started to walk with the assistance of a harness and is now hoping to go to school next year.
Megan said that Shea's development has been down to constant hard work and she praised his physios and occupational therapists for their support and dedication to working with him.
She said: "To see Shea walk this week was absolutely amazing, I am just so proud of him and all the hard work that he has put in to get this far.
"The physios and occupational therapists from the hospital and Mencap have done such brilliant work with him and the support that we cannot thank them enough for the support that he has received.
"Everything that we do with Shea is structured around improving his development, even when we are playing we do it in a way that will help in the future.
"While he still needs some assistance to walk, he is now standing up by himself and even sofa surfing when he gets the chance.
"It is hard to believe that I was told that he would never be able to walk, talk or even see and now he is doing all of that and is the happiest little boy that you could ever meet."
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