15791/3As the Gazette's Springboard Appeal received another big boost this week, winning support from staff at Woolworths in Chippenham, ZOE MILLS spoke to another family who have been helped by the pre-school

DOLL'S clothes were all little Lucy Walker's parents could find to fit her when she was born at just 23 weeks weighing a minute 1lb 9oz.

Nobody knows exactly why Lucy was born so early just over halfway through a normal pregnancy term but doctors think her mum Donna may have had an infection.

Mrs Walker, who lives at Derry Hill with her husband Alistair and Lucy, now almost 18 months old, said she was given a 50/50 chance of survival.

"She was absolutely tiny. She was 30cms long and fitted into my husband's hands. Her head was like a satsuma and it was pretty much touch and go."

Lucy spent the first 20 weeks of her life in intensive care at the Royal United Hospital in Bath until she was finally allowed home weighing 6lb.

But Lucy's untimely entrance into the world meant she was exceptionally frail and physically underdeveloped. She suffers from chronic lung disease and has hydrocephalus too much fluid on the brain.

"Because she was so little she had not fully developed," said Mrs Walker. "Her eyes were fused shut for three weeks after she was born and her lungs were so weak she couldn't breathe on her own. She was on a ventilator for eight weeks."

Lucy still relies on a tube in her nose to give her enough oxygen, although her parents are slowly trying to wean her off it.

"By the end of next year we hope she will only need it at night," said Mrs Walker. "As she gets bigger her lungs will be able to cope on their own. You know when she needs oxygen because she goes blue and lifeless."

At four months old Lucy had an operation to insert a shunt valve into her head to treat the hydrocephalus. When the pressure gets too much on her brain, the valve opens and releases fluid into her tummy.

"Without it her brain would swell up and she'd die," explained Mrs Walker. "It's quite scary."

She said Lucy was an inquisitive, bright tot, but her physical development was slow. "If you think about it, she's only really 13 months old," said Mrs Walker. "She's not crawling or walking yet because she hasn't got the strength and she's still in 6/9 month old clothes.

"Her speech is also delayed as her vocal cords were damaged by having the ventilation tubes for so long."

Ironically, Mrs Walker had just started working as a playroom assistant at Springboard, north Wiltshire's only pre-school for children with special needs, when she found out she was pregnant but never imagined her own child would be using the facility just months later.

But Lucy, who has attended Springboard since last October, is another tot who could lose her place if money is not found to save it.

As Lucy got stronger, her paediatrician suggested getting a place at Springboard, which is based at Frogwell School, Chippenham. "You expect everything to be perfect so Springboard didn't cross my mind. It was so reassuring for us to know they were there, and knew what they were doing," said Mrs Walker.

At 17 months old, Lucy is growing more resilient by the day, and adores playing in the nursery's sand and water. "She absolutely loves going," said Mrs Walker.

"We start singing the 'hello' song they sing at Springboard and she knows where we are going. She's always happy when she's there."

She said Springboard has helped Lucy gain confidence and become a real socialite.

"She's nosey anyway but Springboard has spurred her on to get out there and get on with life. It sounds silly for such a little person but she sees the other children there and thinks 'I can do that too'. She's progressed so quickly and she's so sociable and confident now. That's all down to Springboard. Lucy would really miss it if she couldn't go. Sometimes you take it for granted but it really is a lifeline for a lot of people."