IT'S a miracle they are both alive today and that’s exactly what makes their mother and daughter bond unbreakable.

And it was a day in 2007 which forever sealed their unique relationship.

On November 17, Jo Syvret woke up on a life support machine in intensive care.

Unable to talk and in pain, she wrote a frantic note asking to see her husband, just one thought tormenting her: “Where is my baby?”

Medics were monitoring Jo in hospital for a low lying placenta as a precaution 29 weeks into her pregnancy.

But without warning she began bleeding heavily and was rushed into theatre.

By the time the consultant arrived to deliver her baby girl, Jo had crashed and lost two thirds of her blood.

Baby Jemima was also fighting for her life attached to wires and machines, having been born 11 weeks early weighing just 2lb 11oz.

Smaller than her teddy bear and her head tinier than a tennis ball, Jemima suffered a brain injury and later suffered a heart and lung defect and a stomach condition.

Jo, said: “It was horrific. The doctors and nurses later said we shouldn’t have been there, that we shouldn’t have survived, but we were both extremely lucky and pulled through.”

Yet after undergoing major surgery when she weighed just 4lb, the Syvret family said for the first year they did not know whether Jemima would live.

Jo once had to frantically revive her daughter on the kitchen work top of their Otterbourne home after she turned blue.

Then, at nine months, Jemima was diagnosed with a serious form of cerebral palsy called spastic quadriplegia.

It means she has limited movement and cannot walk, sit up, talk, drink or eat without assistance.

“We didn’t know what the future would hold.

One day she would cope on her own and then she would deteriorate again. You just get to the point where you feel how many more times can you get sad news?

We felt like the fighting was never going to end.” Jo said.

Daily Echo:

“They would continuously diagnose another problem and you can do nothing but become hardened to it.”

And it is undeniable 39-year-old Jo has been a rock.

She sacrificed her high-flying career as an accountant to care for Jemima around the clock.

She said: “When you have a disabled child, it’s almost like they are part of you. You have got to be two people because every time she wants to do something, I’ve got to be there with my body to help her. Everything we do with her is hand on hand so I have to physically move her.

“I’m like her shadow but I have to be and it is worth it when you see her coming on.”

And now for the first time in five years the family finally have a chance to witness greater progress.

Jemima has been accepted for a life-changing operation called Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy or SDR in America next March which could enable her to lead a better life. The surgery will involve operating at the base of the spine on the spinal column while the nerves sending the wrong messages to the legs are permanently severed helping to relax the muscles.

It could mean Jemima will be able to feed herself, and even take her first steps alone.

But it comes at a price – with physiotherapy and after treatment it could reach £90,000.

However Jo refuses to give up and has embarked on a fundraising mission with 41-yearold husband Andrew, who works as an accountant, under the name Jemima’s Journey.

The mum-of-three said: “This is the first time we’ve been told there’s something we can do to help her. “Before all we’ve been told is there isn’t much we can do. Gradually we had to accept that whatever she did do would be such an achievement that all the things she did not do would pale into insignificance.

“Many people take the simple things for granted, but this operation could mean Jemima could brush her teeth, feed herself, draw a picture, move positions when she is playing and follow her friends around the playground in a walking frame without asking an adult to move her in a chair all the time. That would be amazing.”

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Jo said Jemima, who goes to Hiltingbury Infants school, does not qualify for NHS funding for the operation and has appealed for Daily Echo readers to help.

She said: “It’s such a large amount of money to raise in such a short space of time, but every little step counts.

“When Jemima is 18 and asks me ‘mummy why am I like this?’ I honestly want to turn around to her and tell her I have done the best I could at every stage of her life for her so she knows she has had the best start in life.

“I’m extremely committed to doing the best thing for my kids, they are my world and I just can’t give up on a chance.”

FACTFILE

  • Tickets are now on sale for a fairy picnic at Furzey Gardens in the New Forest in aid of Jemima’s Journey. It takes place on Friday, August 16 at 5.30pm.
  • Jemima and Jo have also made bracelets they are selling to raise funds for the life-changing operation.
  • For information about events, to buy a bracelet or give a donation go to jemimasjourney.co.uk