Miracle baby Jessica Gaughan celebrates her first birthday (From York Press)

Miracle baby Jessica Gaughan celebrates her first birthday

10:38am Monday 25th October 2010 in Lifesavers campaign

MIRACLE baby Jessica Gaughan turns one today – and it will be a day of celebration for her mum Vikki Medlicott who was told she would never give birth.

Vikki Medlicott was told as a teenager that her body could not cope with pregnancy because of the crippling effects of an illness which ravaged her immune system and left her days from death.

But to the amazement of doctors, her dream of having children came true following a liver transplant. And a year ago today the 23-year-old gave birth to Jessica, who she says is the “happiest, bubbliest little girl”.

Vikki was struck down with autoimmune hepatitis aged just 14, but her lifeline came through an organ donated by 17-year-old crash victim Matt Ferguson, with the transplant being carried out the day after he died.

Within months, she became pregnant with Jessica, and today she and her partner Stephen Gaughan are celebrating the first year of Jessica’s unexpected life at their Acomb home.

Vikki said: “It’s hard to imagine what life would be like without her now.

“Her birthday is extra-special because of what I went through, and that’s still at the back of my mind every day.”

Although Vikki originally accepted being told she could never give birth, she said: “When I got older and everybody else was having children, I started wanting my own.”

Despite the transplant’s success, she believed it would be impossible to start a family until she became ill while on holiday with Stephen a few months later.

“I was being sick and having constant nausea, but I didn’t think for one minute it was anything other than a side effect of the tablets I had to take following my operations,” she said.

The news she was pregnant left her “gobsmacked”. Following a chance meeting at an organ donor conference, Matt’s parents also met the girl whose life was made possible by their son.

“It was an emotional day, but I think it was important for them to see what a miracle had come out of such tragedy,” said Vikki.

• The Press launched its Lifesavers campaign last December, following the death of Miss York finalist and cystic fibrosis sufferer Emma Young, 22, who died while awaiting a double lung transplant. We aimed to raise awareness of organ donation and to recruit 20,000 new donors by the end of 2010.

To join the Organ Donor Register or get more information, phone 0300 1232323, visit organdonation.nhs.uk or text SAVE to 84118.