A BRAVE baby boy who nearly died from a rare and complex illness is battling back against all the odds.

Little fighter Craig Lamont, who’s 10 months old, suffers from a pancreas defect that affects only one in 50,000 babies and means their bodies produce extremely high levels of insulin.

He spent the first three months of his life in special baby care battling seizures, struggling to breathe and unable to feed as a result of congenital hyperinsulin.

His devasated parents Lisa and dad Craig were left helpless as their tiny son suffered a series of complications, including a brain haemorrhage.

They were warned he was at risk of developmental problems and then they were dealt a third crushing blow when doctors discovered Craig had three holes in his heart.

Mum Lisa Jamieson, 32, of Dubbs Road, Port Glasgow said: “It has been absolutely heartbreaking throughout.

“But the very worst thing is thinking about that moment when he stopped breathing in my arms and had to be resuscitated.

“Thinking on that chokes me completely and I have to remind myself that he is still here.

“He just went blue. I honestly believe that if we weren’t in the hospital he would be gone. It was the most frightening experience of my life.” Craig’s condition, CHI, is so incredibly rare that there are only three specialist centres for it in Europe.

After his birth in October last year Craig had to spend 12 weeks in Yorkhill as medics tried to stabilise his condition.

Ten months on, the tot has to have his blood sugars constantly taken, his medication regulated and has to be fed like clockwork to stop low blood sugar attacks.

Lisa said: “It is like the opposite of diabetes.

“I had never heard of it before and neither had most of the doctors and nurses.

“It was just by chance that one of them had trained in Manchester where there is a specialist centre.

“It’s been a lot of hard work measuring his meds, setting alarms for bloods and making sure he’s fed on time.

“It’s only recently I’ve relaxed slightly with his blood monitoring. For a long time our whole day and mood was reliant on a number on a machine.” Lisa was left devastated when only days after giving birth she had to leave her seriously ill son behind in the special baby care unit at Yorkhill.

She said: “Leaving that hospital with the car seat empty was one of the worst feelings in the world, not knowing if Craig would ever come home.” Yet in the months and weeks leading up to Craig’s birth on 29 October last year there were no signs of trouble.

He was born four weeks early weighing an impressive 7lbs 7.

Lisa, who also has an 10-year-old son, Kai, added: “I had the most perfect pregnancy and straightforward birth. He came four weeks early but everything was fine.

“I gave birth to Craig at midnight and I was set to leave the hospital in the morning after six hours.

“But test results came back showing I had group B strep, which was totally unrelated. It meant that I could no longer leave — and it saved his life.

“If it wasn’t for that test we would have been at home when Craig fell ill and it doesn’t bear thinking about what would have happened.” Lisa and her partner Craig began to notice their newborn was lethargic and not feeding properly.

Alarm bells started to ring and they found themselves in the special baby care unit when he went blue while feeding.

Craig was then transferred to Yorkhill as his condition deteriorated.

Over the next few weeks Lisa and Craig took it in turns to spend hours by his cot.

Lisa, who works in customer service, said: “Nobody else had held him. You can’t describe what it feels like to leave your baby every night.

“There was nowhere for us to stay in the hospital. Craig is a taxi driver and is self employed so he had to continue to work.

“One of the worst things for me was the machines surrounding him and the alarms. When we were trying to get him to feed the oxygen stats would drop and begin alarming. It used to terrify me and I really struggled with that.” The family were given a flicker of hope when Craig was cleared to come home for Christmas — only for more devastating news to follow.

Lisa added: “It was the day before Christmas Eve and we had been told he could come home for five days.

“Then I was told that Craig had taken a brain haemorrhage. The doctors warned me that he could be left brain damaged and with developmental problems.

“But we had to put on a brave face for Kai on Christmas Day, we couldn’t ruin Christmas for him.” At the same time doctors had discovered holes in Craig’s tiny heart.

Lisa added: “We were told they must have developed in the last few weeks of pregnancy. They might correct themselves when he gets older.” The family are now over the moon as Craig continues to gain strength.

Lisa said: “He is developing fine and we are all learning to cope.

“His brother Kai is fantastic “He actually changes his brother’s nappy and can take his blood sugar in case there is ever an emergency — he is not your normal 10 year old!

“Our only worry is that if Craig ever remains hypo after a feed we need to inject his thigh and call 999.” To thank the medics who worked wonders with Craig, his family and friends recently raised an incredible £2,000 from a fundraiser in the Orange Halls in Port Glasgow.

Lisa added: “It was my sister-in-law who organised it and it was a fantastic night.

“We wanted to say thanks to Yorkhill.

“The nurses and doctors are just fantastic.” Lisa and Craig snr say they are forever grateful to their family for their support over the last year.

Lisa said: “I don’t know what we would have done without our family and friends.

“In particular I would like to thank my mum Christine who’s here for us 24 hours a day seven days a week.”