A FAMILY whose daughter was little bigger than her mother’s hand when she was born prematurely marked the fourth anniversary of her coming home from hospital by revisiting medics who saved her life.

Four-year-old Hope Curry, from Thornaby, in Teesside, was given a slim chance of survival when she was born at 26 weeks and two days into her mother, Marie Magor’s, pregnancy, weighing just 1 lb 2oz and measuring just 26cm.

Miss Magor was suffering from severe pre-eclampsia – a potentially life-threatening condition for pregnant woman and their unborn babies – and Hope had stopped growing in her womb at 22 weeks.

Despite doctors at North Tees Hospital, in Stockton, warning Miss Magor and her partner, Steven Curry, that their baby would not cry or move after being born, Hope cried and kicked her legs as soon as she was delivered by caesarean section, on September 1, 2012.

During Hope’s fight for survival in the hospital’s neo-natal baby unit, she overcame bowel problems, countless infections, Sepsis, numerous blood transfusions and laser eye surgery.

At one point, she was so poorly that she was transferred to the RVI, in Newcastle, and her family were warned she may not survive the journey there.

Finally, on December 16, 2012, Miss Magor and Mr Curry were able to their tiny baby home, 106 days after her birth.

As a token of their gratitude to the staff at North Tees Hospital, on that date in December, or thereabouts, every year since, the family has taken gifts, hampers and donations for the neo-natal unit where Hope was treated.

It is always a bittersweet experience for Miss Magor, who describes her daughter as “a miracle”.

She said: “Walking into the unit – the smells and the noises from the machines – it brings the memories back.

“The staff there do such an amazing job.

“We ask our friends and family to give us donations or something towards a hamper for the hospital instead of giving us Christmas cards.

“When Hope was born, I just thought ‘my daughter is going to die and there is nothing I can do about it’.

“Her skin was see-through, she was tiny and with all the tubes and wires, I thought she is not going to survive.

“All the messages I got after she was born all had the word ‘hope’ in them, so that was why we ended up calling her Hope.

“Bringing her home was the best day ever.”

Meanwhile, Hope has grown from strength to strength and started nursery in September – a milestone which her family feared she would never reach.

Miss Magor added: “I didn’t think I would get to see her do anything, but she talked early and she walked at 22-months.

“Hope is cheeky, she is comical, she rules the roost at home, but she is extremely loving.”