A MUM who is stranded in Spain after giving birth to her son three months prematurely said she is “proud” of her hometown after her family and friends raised close to £1,000 during a fundraising event.

Karla Hornby, aged 28, from Breightmet, gave birth to little Freddie while on holiday with his father Jordan Jackson in Benidorm last month.

The couple had been cleared to fly as Ms Hornby was not due to give birth for another three months but they were shocked as she suddenly went into Labour while in the Spanish resort.

The family were then told that they may have to remain in Spain for up to three months to allow tiny Freddie to gain enough strength to be able to fly home, and family and friends have already raised more than £5,000 to support the couple while they are stranded overseas.

The latest fundraising efforts saw a special fun day held at The Rocket Pub in Breightmet, which is the couple’s local pub.

The event, chiefly organised by Ms Hornby’s best friend Lisa Johnston and members of her family, included a car boot sale, a funfair, children’s attractions and lots of stalls and raised an extra £954 to go to Freddie’s fund and edge the family one step closer to getting their newborn baby back to Bolton.

Speaking from Benidorm, Ms Hornby said: “Seeing how the day went made me feel proud to be from Breightmet.

“It was brilliant to see everybody come together and have a great day while helping us out — my family and Lisa did amazingly in organising it all and I can’t thank them enough.”

She said she can’t wait to get back to Bolton and introduce Freddie to all those who have helped, adding: “I miss everybody and everything in Bolton, even the rain.

“Everybody is waiting to meet Freddie and the way he's going hopefully it will be sooner rather than later.”

Speaking about the youngster’s progress, the new mum said he is doing well and steadily putting on weight after initially weighing just 2 lbs.

Ms Hornby added: “He is just over 3lbs now and they have started to give him little bits of feeds through a bottle.

“He is breathing on his own for short times out of his incubator as well — I am really proud of him.”