Baby Harry Sherman should not be here - born six weeks prematurely, at birth he was starved of oxygen and left severely brain-damaged.

Doctors gave him less than 24 hours to live. His parents Alison Day, 36, and Marlon Sherman, 33, of Berechurch Hall Road, Colchester, had prepared for the worst.

At 5am while he was being treated at Addenbrooke's Hospital's neo-natal unit he was christened just in case he did not pull through.

Doctors had warned Alison and Marlon the future was bleak. After seven days on a life support machine they advised the ventilator be switched off. They said there was little hope of him breathing on his own.

Alison and Marlon, who will get married this year, thought about it carefully and declined the option to refuse treatment or resuscitation if he struggled for life.

Their faith paid off. Harry breathed on his own and was transferred to Colchester General Hospital's special baby care unit, where he had been treated immediately after birth.

Harry continued to fight. He was in hospital for a further five months, the longest stay for any baby in the unit.

Yet each day Alison stayed with him, changing his nappies, feeding him and doing all his care. In the evenings Marlon took over until midnight.

And in October Harry was allowed home. Now he has reached the milestone of reaching six months old.

No-one knows what the future holds, how severely disabled Harry will be.

He is slow for his age, may never be able to walk, to talk properly or function normally. It is too early for the doctors to say.

Alison and Marlon take each day at a time, feeding him through a tube because he has stomach problems.

All that is clear is the sacrifice Alison and Marlon have made to ensure their son gets love - and above all a chance.

Alison said: "We were told he would be an empty shell, just sitting there and staring into space. But he has come on. He smiles now and recognises us. Everything he does is a bonus. We have got this far with him. He's a little fighter."

Fighter - baby Harry Sherman.

Picture: STEVE BRADING

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