MIRACLE baby Elliott Higgins will have his first birthday next week after bouncing back to health after a premature start in life.

Natalie and Bobby Higgins say their son was a born battler despite being born at just 25 weeks, weighing 1lb 14oz - less than a bag of sugar.

A life-threatening bleed on his brain, chronic lung disease and jaundice were just some of the difficulties the tiny tot faced when he came into the world too early - despite medical intervention to delay his birth.

His family, of East Bierley, Bradford, had been warned by doctors that the bleed he suffered could be devastating and he might never be able to use the left side of his body.

But almost 12 months on, Elliott has beaten the odds and amazed doctors by gaining full movement of his body, says proud mum Natalie.

"He is our miracle boy and we never gave up hope on him. It took us nine years through IVF so he was already a very special baby," she added.

When doctors only managed to delay Natalie's labour by one week, she was told the baby had just a 40 per cent chance of survival.

As soon as he was born at Leeds General Infirmary, he was whisked away to the special care baby unit and put on a ventilator.

Just one day later, he was managing to breathe for himself and three days later Natalie was able to hold him.

"He was showing us all the signs he was a fighter right from the start," she said.

With bone disease and some visual impairment among his early problems, Elliott has kept surprising his family and doctors by improving by leaps and bounds almost every day.

Now weighing in at over 20lbs, he has caught up with the average weight of any other child his age.

Medics say all his problems could now change dramatically for the better, so much so that he will be able to lead a perfectly normal life. Now his parents want to use his first birthday to give help and hope to other families of premature babies.

"It was very difficult for the doctors and nurses to give hope and positivity as they simply couldn't guarantee it at the time, but we never gave up and we'd like our story to give hope to anyone else going through this difficult situation," said Natalie.

To help cope, Natalie took photos and kept a facebook diary of his progress to keep friends and family up-to-date.

She also has a special keepsake of a small toy given to him when he was born. It was the same size as him at the time.

"He dwarves it now! When he was born it was the worst and the scariest time but look at him now. He can stand on both legs, he's starting to crawl and if he sees food he wants it! He's our beautiful baby."

The family is planning a number of fundraising events to say thank you for the help they got including from Bliss – the charity for sick and early babies. An 1980s night and running the London Marathon are just some of the events.