A baby's love of water has helped him cheat death.

Little Alex Squires was only a year old when he was diagnosed with leukaemia.

But the Utley tot had already been attending swimming sessions for several months.

And the health and strength gained from his weekly dips have been hailed as a major factor in helping him pull through his ordeal.

Alex spent about five months at St James's Hospital, in Leeds, undergoing several cycles of intensive chemotherapy.

And although the youngster -- who is now 18 months old -- will need to have ECG and blood tests for the rest of his life, the acute myeloid leukaemia is in remission.

His father, Tim, a web programmer, is convinced that his son's passion for the pool has helped in his brave battle.

Both Alex and his three-and-a-half-year-old brother, Tom, have regularly attended sessions run by Water Babies -- which organises swimming classes at Cowling, Bradford and Ilkley.

Tim, 33, said: "My mother was a swimming teacher, so that helped me appreciate the importance of getting children into the pool at an early age, and both my wife, Kirsten, and myself were keen to introduce the boys to swimming as soon was possible. I am so glad that Alex had been taken swimming before he fell ill. One of the things the doctors said was that it was because he was so fit and healthy when it happened that he was able to pull through.

"We definitely think his swimming played an important part in this."

Tim said the support received by the family, of High Fold Lane, Utley, since Alex fell ill last summer, had been phenomenal.

And he paid tribute to everyone for their backing.

He said: "When we learned Alex had leukaemia we were completely shocked -- it was like a baseball bat to the head.

"Alex was rushed from Airedale Hospital to St James's, where they did more tests.

"We were told that his white blood cells were breeding and were dangerously high. If the leukaemia had not been diagnosed for another 24 hours, he would have died.

"Alex was moved to the hospital's paediatric intensive care unit, where he was put on a machine to scrub some of the white cells from his blood and lower the number of cancerous cells in his body. This had to be done before chemotherapy could begin.

"In many ways this was the worst time for us. The consultants did not know if the procedure would work and they warned it could even kill him -- his red blood cell count was too low to accurately cross match his blood type so they had to guess.

"The machine needed priming with blood and this could be rejected if it was not the right type. Fortunately, the procedure was successful and Alex began on chemotherapy the next morning. It has been an extremely difficult time for us all but we have tried to remain positive and, in a strange way, it has been a good experience.

"We have made a lot of friends and we remain in contact with most of them, and I ring the hospital regularly to check on the children still undergoing treatment.

"The support from everyone has been fantastic -- including relatives, friends, hospital staff, my employer Omnicom, Water Babies and the Abacus nursery, attended by Alex. I cannot thank them enough."

l For further information about Water Babies log on to www.waterbabies.co.uk or phone 01943 431490.