Baby wakes up 30 minutes after life support detached

Eighteen-month-old Bella Moore-Williams’ parents could only watch helplessly as their sedated daughter took what they thought was her last breath yet she defied the odds to survive without the aid of her ventilator

Doctors told them that it was unlikely she would survive after they diagnosed her with a genetic disease 3 times.She was diagnosed with mitochondrial disease, in which cells fail to produce enough energy.

Mother Francesca, 41, and father Lee, 44, wept and took one last photograph with her brother Bobby, five, before her ventilator was switched off. They also made prints of her hands and feet as a memento and invited family members to the hospital to say farewell.

“We had the whole family at our sides. I will never, ever forget that moment when I had to say goodbye to my daughter “I just kept sitting there thinking ‘why us’.

However Bella started screaming and kicking 30 minutes later. “I could feel her hand dropping and it went down but then she started gripping my finger. “She started moving on her own and then her machine started going off. The doctors then changed everything to try to keep her alive after she started fighting for her life. In those 20 minutes, I realised she wasn’t ready to let go.” even if the couples had filled forms that no special measures should be taken to keep her alive.

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Bella’s oxygen levels shot back up to 100 per cent and later her parents were told that she would survive.

She is still under treatment but back home in , Essex, with her overjoyed family. They are celebrating Bella’s second birthday next month. Mrs Moore-Williams, a sales superviser, said: “It’s just amazing. It’s like we have won the lottery. “She made our family complete and now it’s great to see how well she is doing. When she says ‘Mama’ it melts my heart.”

Bella spent three further weeks on the ward before recovering at home for six weeks She was put on a ventilator at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge and her parents feared the worst. However, she was transferred to the children’s ward after her miraculous revival

Mrs Moore-Williams said: “She’s now learning to talk and her hair is growing back and she’s even walking. She’s about eight months behind where she should be but doctors are confident she will pick up quite quickly.“We are so excited to be together this Christmas and to sit and watch them open their presents.“Bella loves Father Christmas so we can’t wait to have the Christmas we thought we’d never have six months ago.”