A YOUNG mum who was told her son was going to die the night before her 21st birthday is raising money to help other premature babies.

Charlotte Dunraven was due to give birth to Abel Farrelly on April 25, but severe illness forced doctors to perform a C-section on her on January 8, at just 24-weeks pregnant.

She said: “I had really bad pre-eclampsia and I went into North Manchester Hospital the night before really poorly and they told me I was going to have to deliver early.

“It was a big shock and it took them 12 hours to stablise me before they transferred me to Royal Bolton Hospital to deliver.

“He was there for a few months while he was critically ill before being moved to North Manchester.”

Charlotte was transferred to Bolton hospital because the level three Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) is one of just three in the Greater Manchester borough that would be able to give Abel the care he needed.

The little lad, who weighed just 1.4lbs when he was born, suffered a range of health issues, including a bleed on the brain, chronic lung disease, a haemorrhage, and a hernia.

Abel’s condition has been touch and go, and the night before Charlotte’s 21st birthday, her and her partner, 20-year-old Caldhan Farrelly, were told to say their goodbyes to their son.

She said: “They rang us to say his lungs had collapsed and there was nothing more they could do so we needed to come in and say goodbye.

“When you have a premature baby they tell you to take every day at a time and to expect to take two steps forward and five steps back which is exactly what happened with Abel.

“It took three tries to take him off the ventilator and then he just suddenly turned a corner – he’s a proper little fighter, he’s our little miracle.

“They say to aim to take your baby home around your due date but when he was really poorly I thought we were never going to get there. We’re so ready to have him home.”

Doctors at North Manchester Hospital are hoping to operate on Abel’s hernia next week, which could be the final hurdle before the four-month-old is discharged.

Charlotte is now raising money to donate MamaRoo rockers to the units after seeing how well the automatic chairs soothe her son.

She added: “All the nurses at Bolton have given him the best possible start and I genuinely think if he hadn’t been there he wouldn’t have made it.

“North Manchester have been brilliant too and are doing their best to get him back home with us.

“I can’t thank them both enough for what they’ve done.”

To donate to her fundraiser, visit gofundme.com/f/1znw6sfjg0.