A mum has written a heartwarming memoir of her daughter's struggle for survival after Sofia was born at just 24 weeks and weighing little over a pound.
Baby Sofia was so tiny that when she was born in 2009 she was wrapped in bubble wrap to protect her frail body from the outside world, earning her the nickname 'the bubble wrap girl'.
"My pregnancy had been complicated from the beginning. I started bleeding at seven weeks and thought that I was losing Sofia then," Rebecca Meechan, 39, told the Mail.
"She hung on until I got to 24 weeks pregnant. But then I went into labour and doctors diagnosed me with an incompetent cervix which meant I couldn't hold my baby in my womb any longer."
Doctors gave Rebecca steroid injections to try and develop her little girls baby's lungs before she was delivered by caesarean, weighing just 1Ib 8oz.
Rebecca said her daughter was given 'very little chance of survival' after her premature birth.
Throughout her time in hospital, Rebecca kept a daily journal of Sofia's journey, as well as chronicling her own 'feelings of despair and helplessness'.
The little girl endured various organ failures, as well as major heart and eye surgery, and was found to have such severe anaemia due to her inability to make her own blood that she needed multiple blood transfusions.
Her forensic scientist mum said she ended up suffering a breakdown shortly after Sofia was finally discharged from hospital which led to her having to leave her job and eventually file for bankruptcy.
Now, four years on brave Sofia has made a miraculous recovery and just started school.
Her mum told the paper her 'bubble wrap girl' is her 'inspiration' who has given her 'strength and a reason to live'.
She said it was 'emotional' seeing her little girl go to school, after having such a precarious start in life.
"It was the most emotional day when Sofia started school for the first time," she said. "I kept thinking of how far she has come - from being wrapped in bubble wrap to survive - to finally being able to start school."
Rebecca's book, My Bubble Wrap Girl is published by Strategic.