Baby James is home in time for Christmas

Salisbury mother Kelly Parker and her partner Alex Burgess had an emotional reunion with their families at the beginning of this month, when they brought their baby, James, home from Ireland, where he had spent the first weeks of his life fighting for survival.

He and his identical twin brother Brendan were born prematurely after Kelly (21) went into labour at just 24 weeks while she was on holiday in Cork.

She and Alex (23) were staying with Alex's parents, Peter and Camilla Burgess, of Quidhampton, at a house near Bantry, Cork, in July.

But two days after they arrived, Kelly began to feel unwell, and by the following morning, in a lot of pain, she was taken to the doctor in Bantry. By then, she had started bleeding and was admitted to the local hospital but, with no specialist equipment or staff available, the decision was taken to transfer Kelly by ambulance to Cork. In fact, the ambulance never got out of the car park, as they realised that the twins were likely to be born en route.

Alex's sister, Nicky Burgess, who was with the family at the hospital, takes up the story: "There was mad panic because they realised the cord was under one baby's head and Kelly was pushing against it.

"Suddenly, it was like a scene from ER, as doctors arrived from Cork by ambulance and walked in carrying monitors and incubators.

"Kelly was taken into the operating theatre for an emergency Caesarean and mum, dad and I were left outside."

Alex stayed with Kelly in theatre and received the heartbreaking news that the twins had only a 60 per cent chance of survival and the risk of brain damage.

James was born first, weighing 1lb 11oz, and Brendan followed two minutes later, weighing 1lb 7oz.

"I didn't even see them - they were whipped off into incubators and rushed to hospital in Cork," said Kelly.

She and Alex didn't see their babies properly for the first time until the following day, when Kelly had recovered enough from the birth to follow them.

The next five days were a nightmare for the new parents.

The Burgesses stayed with them and the Parkers, who live in Wilton, raced over to see their new grandchildren but, tragically, it became clear that Brendan would not survive, and Alex and Kelly held him for the first and last time as he was taken off the ventilator.

"They were expecting him to die after five minutes, but we had him with us for four hours and that was wonderful - the feeling of him was just incredible," said Kelly.

It emerged that James survived partly because his brother had given blood to his twin in the womb, but not long after they lost Brendan, doctors were predicting that James too might die.

Twice he stopped breathing, and at six weeks, he underwent a heart operation in Dublin.

There was more sadness, as Kelly had to return home for her grandfather's funeral.

The baby's other grandparents criss-crossed the Irish sea with Nicky and Kelly's sister, Jo, to lend support to Alex and Kelly as they stayed in bed and breakfast and then rented accommodation to be near their baby.

But word spread in Wilton and Quidhampton and friends and neighbours rallied round raising money to help the young family. "It was wonderful to have so much support - it kept us going," said Kelly. She and Alex have nothing but praise for the nursing staff in Ireland, who they say were kindness itself, but both were desperate to return to family and friends.

Finally, after several false starts, the couple were allowed to bring their baby home to Salisbury on December 1.

At just over five months, James is not out of the woods yet and there are scans, tests and check-ups to come, but for the moment he is doing well.

"Our emotions yo-yo from good to bad in an hour," says Kelly. Cuddling him at home in Lower Bemerton, she told the Journal: "We wanted to be home as a family for Christmas.

"I feel as if I've been waiting for it forever. Whenever I look at James, I smile just because he's there.

"Our best present for Christmas was being able to bring James home."