WHEN Milly Heatlie was born 16 weeks prematurely, her devastated parents were told to expect the worst.

Weighing only 1lb 13oz, less than a bag of sugar, Milly was put on a ventilator in intensive care, with little chance of surviving.

Her parents were warned that even if she survived, she would probably be severely disabled.

But what doctors reckoned without was little Milly's fighting spirit.

Her tiny heart stopped three times, but she came back from the dead and has just enjoyed her first day at school.

The four-year-old turned up at Tadcaster's Riverside Primary School in her new uniform, holding hands with her six-year-old brother, Isaac. It was a big day for Milly and her parents Alex, box office manager at York's Barbican Centre, and Adam, a detective constable based at Fulford.

It was also a day that her proud parents thought they might never see.

Mrs Heatlie today recalled the nightmare scenario the family faced only hours after she went into labour on December 3, 1999.

She was taken to York Hospital but transferred to Middlesbrough's South Cleveland Hospital - the nearest place where a neonatal intensive care incubator was available.

"Milly was so minute her whole hand could fit on a thumbnail and her legs were no longer than a finger," said Mrs Heatlie, who lived in Murray Street, York, before moving to Bolton Percy, near Tadcaster. "She was incredibly poorly over Christmas.

"We were staying with relatives in Durham and on Christmas Eve got the call we had been dreading. The hospital told us there was a chance that Milly would not last the night.

"But she survived and on New Year's Day there was a truly miraculous change.

"From being at death's door, she started breathing on her own and never looked back.

"I contacted the Evening Press because I felt my story would give hope to other parents in a similar situation."

Milly was in hospital for three months, spending the last three weeks in York Hospital's special care baby unit.

Mrs Heatlie said: "Now she's just like any other child her age. There's not a single thing wrong with her - she's our little bright star."

Updated: 10:50 Monday, September 06, 2004