LANE Williams weighed only 1.7 kilograms when he was born at just 35 weeks.
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He was so premature and born with Gastroschisis, a condition where the baby’s intestines grow on the outside of the body, that his own surgeon believed he would not survive.
It was a sobering and shocking blow to Lane’s Tamworth-based family.
They spent the first three months of his touch-and-go life at the John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle.
But Lane proved to be “a miracle baby” as he continued to define the odds. He is now a healthy and happy nine-month-old.
Lane has already undergone two surgeries and will have another at the age of two.
His mother, Di Williams, was one of dozens of Tamworth women stepping forward for the Walk for Prems event at Bicentennial Park on Sunday.
“It’s about raising a bit of money, getting with other women who’ve been through a similar thing,” she said.
“It’s scary and it’s stressful, but the support has been amazing.”
The Tamworth walk was one of many across the country raising money for Life’s Little Treasures Foundation to provide vital services to families of premature and sick babies.
Louise Jenkins was walking for her daughter Hadley, who was born at 30 weeks weighing just 1.3 kilograms.
“(Hadley) is doing really well now,” she said.
“Today is about coming together, finding out babies born premature is more prevalent than you think.”
To find out more or how to donate, www.walkforprems.org.au/about-the-walk/