15954/4GAZETTE & HERALD: WANTING to make sure their unborn child had the best possible start in life, Paul and Tracy Simms paid £120 for a special scan to make sure everything was running smoothly.

The 12-week scan, which shows if a baby is likely to have Downs syndrome or spina bifida, came back clear, much to the couple's relief.

So you can imagine their shock when just minutes after their daughter Harriet was born doctors dropped a bombshell.

"They told us she had Downs syndrome," said Mrs Simms. "It turned our world upside down."

They got over the initial devastation and soon took little Harriet home to her brother Luke, now eight, in Chippenham.

But at just five weeks old, Harriet stopped feeding. She was rushed into the Royal United Hospital in Bath and doctors did various tests.

Then came the second blow. "I can remember hearing the words 'your daughter's dying of heart failure'," said Mrs Simms.

Harriet had two massive holes in her heart and two deformed valves. "We didn't think she was going to make it," said Mr Simms.

Weighing just 6lb, it was a battle against the clock to feed her up to the 8lb she needed to be before doctors could operate. A month later, Harriet underwent major open heart surgery but complications set in after the operation and the Simms were told to kiss their daughter goodbye.

But the little fighter pulled through yet another operation, and her heart is now ticking over nicely.

When she was just a few months old Harriet joined Springboard, the Chippenham-based nursery for children with special needs that itself faces an annual battle to find the funding to survive.

"It's been invaluable to us," said Mr Simms. "Harriet would have been very isolated if she hadn't been to Springboard and it's given her a lot of independence."

Thanks to dedicated physiotherapy, Harriet learnt to walk a good year before she should have, and uses special sign language called Makaton to help her communicate.

She now plays well with other children and has the patience to sit still and concentrate. In short, the Springboard staff tuned into her every need.

It's helped her mum too. "It gives me a couple of hours to myself every week," said Mrs Simms. "If Springboard wasn't there those poor mums with children that need constant care wouldn't get anything."