A baby has miraculously survived after being born with just two tablespoons of blood in her entire body – and the rest made of WATER.
Little Frankie Morrison had just 35ml of blood when she was born – which is seven time less than the average amount inside a newborn.
It meant she had more water than blood inside her body when she was born.
The real-life water baby had to immediately be resuscitated by doctors as soon as she was born through an emergency Caesarean section after medics found she was not moving inside her mum’s womb.
Despite having more water than blood inside her body, and doctors telling her parents Maria Sandars, 32, and Chris Morrison, 33, to expect the worse, Frankie pulled through unscathed.
Mum-of-three Maria said staff at Hull Royal Infirmary, East Yorks., even told her and Chris a priest was available to bless Frankie after she was born on October 20 last year.
Maria was rushed into theatre after arriving at the hospital on the day of Frankie’s birth after doctors discovered Frankie hadn’t moved for two days due to the lack of blood in her body.
Maria, from Hull said: “I went into hospital on the Sunday before she was born because I couldn’t feel her moving and they said that she might just be feeling lazy, but I knew something wasn’t right.
“They sent me home but told me to go back in if anything else happens.
“I just knew something wasn’t right so I went back in two days later and I am glad I did because I think that’s one of the reasons why she is still with us.
“She wasn’t moving so they put me on a machine that found she was still alive and still had a heartbeat.”
Maria was rushed in to surgery for an emergency Caesarian section at 3.10am October 20, and just 10 minutes later Frankie was born.
She said: “When she came out she was unresponsive. They got her out and started working on her straight away.
“When I came around from the operation I could see people standing around me crying.
“I thought I had lost her. They said she had been having breathing difficulties and told us in a roundabout way that I had to go to see her because it’s not looking good. They said they didn’t hold out much hope for her.
“I went up to her and there was this chubby little eight pound baby who was so bloated because she had all this water instead of blood inside her.
“Her body was soaking wet and they were carrying out chest drains on her because water had got into her lungs and chest.
“But I just took one look at her and knew she was a fighter and would pull through.”
After Frankie was stabilised by medics she was then rushed to be put on a specialist life-support machine in Leicester.
Maria said while babies born with less than an average amount of blood isn’t uncommon, it is much rarer for babies to be born with extremely low levels like Frankie.
She said: “It’s not completely unheard of but in Frankie’s case it was so severe.
“Babies can pass blood back through the umbilical cord but its never normally anywhere near like she did.
“Doctors think she passed one good dose two weeks before she was born and then another dose just before labour came.”
Maria, an admin assistant, and Chris, a bricklayer, were told if Frankie survived then it was likely she would be wheelchair-bound or brain-damaged for the rest of her life.
Maria said: “They said to is that basically her chances weren’t looking good and she was being assessed minute-by-minute rather than hour-by-hour or day-by-day.
“Her only chance of survival was to go to Leicester, but they said that on paper her brain should have been starved of oxygen and if she did survive she wouldn’t walk and talk and would be severely brain damaged.”
However during the helicopter ride between Hull and Leicester Frankie miraculously began to improve and she was transferred back to East Yorkshire after just three days of observations.
Maria said: “She had two blood transfusions while she was at Hull Royal Infirmary and they must have kicked in during the helicopter ride to Leicester.”
Frankie was allowed to return home with Maria and Chris to meet older sisters Brooke, 10, and Mollie, five, just three weeks after being born.
A year on and the only repercussions Frankie has experienced is a slightly weaker immune system then other children her age.
Maria said: “She went back at six months for a check up with her consultant and he was nearly in tears because he couldn’t believe how well she was doing.
“They didn’t have much hope for her at all. They didn’t think she would see the day out.”
Maria added: “It’s brilliant. We are just the luckiest people in the world.
“I would never class myself as unlucky again after seeing what Frankie went through.
“I still cannot believe the baby sat in front of me after everything she has been through.
“I just want to thank all the staff, because without them she would not be here.
“They are amazing people, absolutely amazing. They are miracle workers in that ward.
“We feel so lucky because we saw so, so many sad things in those three weeks, but to walk out with Frankie is the best feeling in the world, and it is down to them.”
