A girl who was born prematurely after her mum almost died from an aneurism has proved doctors wrong.
Ashleigh Mulvaney, from Speke, was born at Liverpool Women's Hospital in March 2005, before her mum was rushed into theatre.
Mum Alison suffered a burst aneurism as she and Ashleigh's dad Danny rushed to help rescue people from a fire on Queen's Drive.
She was rushed to hospital where she underwent a gruelling 10 hour operation, while doctors worked on her daughter who had been starved of oxygen.
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Ashleigh's dad Danny meanwhile was being treated in the Royal Liverpool Hospital for smoke inhalation.
The couple had stopped at the scene of a fire on Queen's drive while bringing their son, Joshua, home from Alder Hey Children's Hospital after a serious asthma attack.
Baby Ashleigh spent several weeks in the special care unit at Liverpool Women's Hospital where doctors feared she would not walk or talk after suffering oxygen deprivation during birth.
Her mum had been transferred to the intensive care unit at Preston hospital while her dad continued to recover from the effects of smoke inhalation.
Sixteen years later, Ashleigh, whose speech and walking was delayed as a child, has beaten the odds to graduate from her "incredible" secondary school, St Nicholas secondary school in Garston, with a clutch of qualifications, including distinctions, and is getting ready to start college in September where she hopes to follow in her brother's footsteps as a teaching assistant.
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Mum Alison spoke to the ECHO about Ashleigh's traumatic birth and the family's journey over the past 16 years.
Alison, 51, who lives with her daughter Ashleigh in Speke, said: "Ashleigh is resilience in a nutshell.
"When she was born, she wasn't breathing. She was fitting and starved of oxygen.
"I didn't know any of this as I'd been rushed into theatre myself. Her dad was in the Royal being treated for smoke inhalation.
"At one point every member of the family was in a different hospital.
"It all happened after we were coming home from Alder Hey Hospital one night. Ashleigh's brother Joshua had severe asthma and he'd had a really bad asthma attack.
"We were on our way home and we were driving down Queens Drive and we saw just outside a house there were vans on fire.
"We stopped our van and Danny got out and said to me you stay there.
"He was knocking on the door to alert people inside but there was nobody around.
"The next door, the fire was lapping up at the window and the window ledge was melting.
"It turned out there were two children in the room asleep, the mum opened the door as the fire was blazing and Danny shouted to get out and then he went upstairs to get the kids out.
"I got out the car and went up to the next door. The daughter opened the door and there was a disabled man in the bath, his daughter was able to get him out and move her car which was right next to one on fire.
"As I came down the path to get back into the van, I felt an almighty pain.
"I thought I had done something, I was doubled up in pain over Danny's van.
"When he came up he automatically thought it was the baby, but within that time, another car came and I was able to sit in the front with my legs out.
"A paramedic happened to be passing, who was my cousin - he'd literally been to McDonalds for his tea and was just passing in his van.
"He stopped, came over to me and it turned out it wasn't the baby. I had a burst aneurism and was dying in front of everyone's eyes.
"I was rushed to the women's hospital and Danny was sent to the Royal with smoke inhalation."
Alison says that when they arrived at the Women's hospital the doctors insisted the baby had to come out "immediately."
She said: "As soon as I got there they said baby needs to come out now, immediately.
"I didn't know what was going on at the time, I was knocked out.
"Ashleigh was born not breathing, and she was fitting and starved of oxygen.
"I then had a ten hour operation, was bleeding to death and IT turned out I had an aneurism in my splenetic vein and had to have my spleen removed.
"The family were brought in and told I probably wouldn't make it, but I woke up three days later in intensive care in a hospital in Preston, because at the time there were no intensive care beds in Liverpool available.
"At one point I was in Preston hospital, Danny was in the Royal, Ashleigh was in the Women's and Joshua was in Alder Hey all at the same time."
Ashleigh spent weeks in a the special care unit and doctors told the family they weren't sure what damage had been done from her traumatic birth.
Alison said: " They couldn't tell us what the future would hold. All they said is they have to see how she meets the milestones, we weren't given any guarantees whether she would be able to walk or talk."
Alison says Ashleigh was late talking and walking and needed speech therapy and support from Alder Hey Hospital.
She said: She didn't walk until she was three and she didn't talk until nearly four years of age - she has fought hard from birth.
"She went to Stockton Woods primary school in Speke, a really fabulous school which gave her the extra support she needed."
Alison says that when it was time to choose a secondary school, the family had to choose carefully a place that would be able to help her with her additional needs - a school they found in St Nicholas school in Garston.
She said: "They were just fabulous. They had smaller class for kids with additional educational needs - the same curriculum but in a different setting - and she came on leaps and bounds and was then transferred into the mainstream part of the school.
"This enabled her to study and sit her GCSEs and we're just so very proud of her for passing.
"We're in awe of what she's achieved."
Alison says that when Ashleigh was given her results the family were "hovering around excitedly" and burst into tears when she opened the envelope.
Alison said: "She's gives 100% in everything she does, working hard all the way through lockdown, she puts her all into everything she does and is our little miracle."
Ashleigh's mum says that although her dad, Danny died suddenly six years ago she knows "he would have been so proud of her."
"The family have all come together, my sister Heather, she stepped in so many times over the years, as I've had ill health ever since and she's been like a second mum to Ashleigh.
"And her teachers at school were amazing, she had a wonderful relationship with her teacher Miss Roberts who has been so supportive.
"Ashleigh is resilience in a nutshell. She's worked so hard and we're so proud of what she's achieved."
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