A mum said she was crying and screaming "don't let my baby die" just moments after her son's 'horrendous' birth.
Emma Kinney from Birkenhead was 19 when the birth of her first child took a nightmarish turn as her son was born not breathing at Arrowe Park Hospital in 2008.
The panic of the moment still fresh in her mind, Emma, now 32, told The ECHO: "It was horrendous. Everything went wrong. When he was born it was an emergency, all the doctors and nurses were running around.
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"I just remember crying and saying 'don't let my baby die'."
The terrified new mum was unable to hold her son as hospital staff battled against the clock to save his life.
It would be 12 minutes before Emma's baby would take his first breath.
The infant, named Shay, was rushed to intensive care and put on a ventilator before being transferred to Liverpool Women's Hospital where he underwent 'brain cooling,' a treatment for brain injury in newborns.
The prognosis was poor.
Emma said: "We were told by the doctors that it would be a miracle if he survived and if he did the likelihood is that Shay would be severely disabled after his brain was not receiving oxygen for so long."
The nightmare continued as the newborn battled multiple seizures and a streptococcus B infection which can lead to meningitis, sepsis and pneumonia in newborns.
His mum said: "Finally they brought in a photo of him covered in tubes."
The image is one she regularly shows the now 13 year old Shay Pennington, who survived against all odds.
Emma told The ECHO : "I show him the photo and I tell him 'look how strong you are. Look at everything you've overcome'."
Despite his traumatic birth, an MRI showed no abnormalities in the newborn's brain and he was allowed home after just a couple of weeks.
Emma said: "We were told that as Shay is growing up he probably wouldn't develop at the rate others would usually. He still hit all his milestones so 'Shay will do it in Shay's time' is our saying."
The youngster's fighting spirit carried into adolescence, allowing him to become a talented goalkeeper and boxer despite a diagnosis of dyspraxia - a developmental disorder that affects co-ordination.
Sean Trodden, head coach at Venture Boxing Gym in Birkenhead, where Shay has trained since the age of five said: "He was so young when he started with us and I'll be honest, he was a bit all over the place.
"Then one day it just clicked."
When the gym was forced to close due to the covid pandemic Shay decided to raise funds himself with a sponsored run.
Emma said: "He said he wanted to run a marathon distance. I didn't realise he meant the whole distance (26.2 miles) at once!
"I was worried but his dad told me 'believe in him he's been training for it it."
In March of this year, Shay ran along the Wirral coast, from Seacombe to West Kirby and back while his dad Craig, 39, rode alongside on a bike.
Completing the distance in just over five hours, he raised over £600 for club, once again defying expectation.
Emma said: "When he did it I couldn't believe it. I didn't realise just how fit he was."
Coach Sean said: "We were struggling at the time financially because of lockdown. I couldn't believe he did the full distance, it was just unbelievable.
"When we were allowed back into the gym we put him forward for the England Boxing National Schools Championships."
In September of this year the teenager made it to the final and went on to win silver in the under 68kg class.
Proud coach Sean said: "He's surpassed himself in every way."
Shay's fundraising achievement has now been recognised as he has been named Young Person of the Year in the Wirral Globe community heroes award.
As her 'cool as a cucumber' son plans his next challenge - an Ironman contest, Emma told The ECHO: "He proves everybody wrong all the time and he doesn't let anything affect him.
"I can't put into words how proud our family is of him."
