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Posted: 15-05-2009 00:09 Post subject:

Millionaire gives away his estate

A Northumberland millionaire is selling his £16m country estate and giving every penny of the proceeds to charity.

Brian Burnie is open to offers for the Doxford Hall Hotel and its 10 acre estate near Alnwick.

He hopes to use the profits from the sale to establish and pay for a Macmillan cancer nurse for north Northumberland.

The 64-year-old also hopes to pay for a set of custom-made vehicles to take cancer patients to and from hospitals.

Mr Burnie said: "We live in a me, me, me society and it has always been important to me to think of others.

"We can all do something by leaving money to charity when we die, but why don't we do something while we are still living?"

Father-of-three Mr Burnie said he and his wife Shirley - a breast cancer survivor - would live on their private pension when the estate was sold.

He said: "We won't exactly be selling the Big Issue but we will be downsizing.

"I've done the stately home bit - the bricks and mortar - but I've always been a people person.

"To be able to do something to help people has a much bigger return than any financial gain."

The Newcastle-born millionaire joked he "went to school in Heaton and not Eton".

He said: "You are what your parents are and you should never forget your roots - we were millionaires in kindness, not money. Very Happy

"Writing out the cheque is the easy bit - it's actually getting off your jacket and helping the cause you want to support that is the hard part."

Mr Burnie began his working life as a 15-year-old grocery delivery boy before beginning a student apprenticeship for builders John Laing.

He progressed to become a trained engineer before moving into management - firstly in the building industry then in the petrochemicals.

In 1979, Mr Burnie and a partner started investment company Kelburn Holdings in Newcastle before later moving into recruitment.

This all led to Mr Burnie and his wife buying Doxford Hall from Northumberland County Council in 1993.

It is now a 25-bedroom hotel and spa complex which also hosts conferences and weddings.

Mr Burnie said he will call the transport service Daft As A Brush and will use brightly coloured vehicles.

Mr and Mrs Burnie have been contributing to charity for the last 40 years, supporting various cancer charities, inviting war veterans to their home for meals and opening their door to the less fortunate on Christmas Day.

A spokeswoman for Macmillan Cancer Trust said: "We are hoping to meet with Mr Burnie next week to discuss his plans and look forward to working with him to help people affected by cancer in Northumberland."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/tyne/8049729.stm

Posted: 15-05-2009 00:21 Post subject:

What a dude.

Posted: 20-05-2009 00:42 Post subject:

Man saves ducklings from ledge

[video]

A banker from Spokane, Washington, in the USA, has rescued a brood of ducklings which hatched on a ledge. Very Happy

Joel Armstrong was ready and waiting to help the ducklings down, after rescuing a brood from the same problem a year before.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8058221.stm

Posted: 30-05-2009 13:50 Post subject:

Facebook reunites mother with long-lost son
Avril Grube and her son Gavin
Simon de Bruxelles

A woman whose three-year-old son was abducted and taken to live in Hungary has been reunited with him 27 years later after finding his name on Facebook.

Avril Grube last saw Gavin when his father took him on an outing to Blackpool Zoo. That was in 1982.

Instead of going to the zoo, however, Joseph Paros took the boy to Budapest in defiance of a court order.

Despite appeals via the Hungarian Embassy in London and the British Embassy in Budapest, and an appeal to Margaret Thatcher, then the Prime Minister, Mrs Grube heard nothing more of her son.

Then last October, her sister, Beryl Wilson, typed the name Gavin Paros into Google and found a link to someone of that name on the social networking site Facebook.

A frustrating wait followed. With more than 200 million users, there was a possibility that the Facebook member merely shared the name with Mrs Grube’s son.

It was several weeks before Mr Paros, now a 30-year-old father of three, checked his Facebook page and found the message from his aunt. Mother and son were reunited at 4am on Thursday after her husband Jeff picked him up from Gatwick and drove him to their home in Poole, Dorset. Mrs Grube, 61, who is partially disabled after a stroke, said: “I couldn’t sleep, I just sat waiting for him to arrive. Even though it has been nearly 30 years, when I first saw him I recognised him. He has my eyes.

“I was so overcome and just said ‘my beautiful son’ over and over again. He was very quiet and overwhelmed. We just hugged each other. It is the happiest day of my life, there are almost no words to describe it.” Very Happy

The pair managed to communicate, although Mr Paros has forgotten all the English he knew as a boy and Mrs Grube does not speak Hungarian.

Mrs Grube, who has three other children, has yet to meet her daughter-in-law, Sylvia, and three grandchildren Anastasia, 10, Thomas, 7, and Angelina, 6. She hopes they will decide to move to Britain.

Mrs Wilson, 59, had spent the best part of three decades helping her sister trace her son. Because Hungary was a Communist state in 1982 on the wrong side of the Iron Curtain it made the task of tracing a three-year-old boy virtually impossible for a single mother in Liverpool. Appeals for help through official channels fell on deaf ears.

Mrs Wilson, who still lives in Liverpool, said: “Gavin’s father had visitation rights and said he was going to the zoo. Naturally, my sister was devastated. We didn’t have people around us to tell us where to go or who to speak to. We tried our MP and wrote to Margaret Thatcher but nobody was interested or wanted to help.

“Avril endured many sleepless nights, not knowing if Gavin was alive or dead. She didn’t cope very well and had a terrible time. She has a big heart and loves her children very much. As a result her own health has suffered.”

While Mrs Wilson was trying to trace Mr Paros through the internet, he had been trying to find his English family after the death of his father in 2006. Mrs Wilson said: “I tried online electoral rolls to check if Gavin had moved back to Britain, and I tried Friends Reunited, but didn’t get anywhere.

“Then one day last October I put his name into Facebook and found him. I e-mailed him but it took a while for him to respond and when he did he gave me his phone numbers.

“I called my sister when I heard back from Gavin and told her to sit down as I had some news. All I heard after that was screaming.”

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6386101.ece

Posted: 04-07-2009 13:40 Post subject:

The Golden Girls: Four sisters, each happily married for more than 50 years
By Bill Mouland
Last updated at 1:46 AM on 04th July 2009

In an age when half of marriages end in divorce, and an online service has been set up to advise warring couples how to part, the McAleney sisters are the perfect antidote.
Born within eight years of each other in the 1930s, the four girls have all stayed with their original husbands, clocking up 214 years of marriage between them.
Each has celebrated her golden wedding - the latest being the youngest, Ann, who celebrated 50 years with husband Ron Valentine on Valentine's Day, naturally, this year.

'It's just the way we were brought up,' said 69-year-old Ann as the couples prepared for a family party tomorrow which their combined total of ten children, 22 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren will all attend.
'We stuck together through thick and thin. We had ups and downs, of course, but we dealt with them as adults.'

The girls were born in Horsham, West Sussex, to William McAleney, a driver who had once been a regimental sergeant major in the Royal Artillery, and his wife Winifred.
Three of them have remained in the town ever since. The only one to move out is third sister Maureen, 73, who with her husband Ted, 76, has ventured as far as Hurstpierpoint 11 miles away. Cool

'We like it round here,' says Maureen. 'The fact that we are all still together is that our parents stayed together and we were brought up to be a family so we have followed suit.
'I just think there's nothing better. It's a good stable background if you are going to have children. We have been very lucky with our husbands and lucky they are still with us and get on well together.'

etc...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1197369/The-Golden-Girls-Four-sisters-happily-married-50-years.html

Posted: 20-07-2009 10:29 Post subject:

Child talks for first time after family read about revolutionary therapy in the Telegraph
A child was given a revolutionary treatment which enabled him to walk and talk for the first time after his family read about the therapy in the Daily Telegraph.
By Kate Devlin, Medical Correspondent
Published: 7:00AM BST 20 Jul 2009

Jack Neighbour became one of the first British children to receive the treatment, which uses an old-fashioned drug to switch off a serious genetic defect.

Now 10, as a child he suffered neo-natal diabetes, a genetic problem which causes his blood sugar to fluctuate wildly and a host of other complications.

He needed round the clock care and his condition meant that he was unable to speak and was only able to make sounds.

Now he is able to attend school and make friends after what his mother describes as "miracle" for the family.

Emma Neighbour, 36, from Rayleigh in Essex, said: "It was a woman at my mother in law's church who spotted the article.

"I just thought 'that's Jack'.

"All it took was a simple blood test to show that Jack had the same gene.

"Within two weeks of being given the drugs he could come off insulin.

"After six weeks he spoke, which was very emotional, as he had only made sounds before that." Very Happy

A rare form of diabetes, it is usually diagnosed within the first six months of life, often after babies become gravely ill.

The disease can cause muscle weakness and neurological problems, including epilepsy.

Although they can be treated with insulin, it is an imperfect therapy and children still suffer damage caused by the disease.

Approximately one in three of all cases are caused by mutations in a gene.

In 2004 researchers in Holland discovered that some children could be treated by taking pills called sulphonylureas, initially invented as a treatment for typhoid.

A two-year-old Dutch boy born with diabetes treated with the therapy was able to walk for the first time and develop normally.

The cure had been discovered by accident in Brazil four decades earlier, when a child was given the drug in desperation.

The treatment also means sufferers are freed from a lifelong need to take multiple injections.

Although Jack will have to take the tablets for the rest of this life, they mean his blood sugar remains more stable, reducing the need for constant monitoring.

Mrs Neighbour added: "This really has been a miracle for our family. We are so grateful for this treatment."

Prof Frances Ashcroft, from Oxford University, who was one of the first scientists in this country to become involved in the treatment, said: "Although this is a rather rare disease it does affect one in 100,000 births, which across the world does add up.

"About 30 patients have now had this treatment since it was uncovered."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/5863422/Child-talks-for-first-time-after-family-read-about-revolutionary-therapy-in-the-Telegraph.html

Posted: 20-07-2009 10:50 Post subject:

Happy ending for Steve Smith and Carmen Ruiz-Perez after letter is found
Valentine Low

Steve Smith's declaration of love for Carmen Ruiz-Perez remained unopened after it fell behind her mother's fireplace
A tale of true romance that skipped a decade after a love letter went astray has ended happily ever after with the couple getting married.

Steve Smith and Carmen Ruiz-Perez first met 17 years ago in Devon when they were both in their twenties and Ms Ruiz-Perez was a foreign student. They fell in love and became engaged but after a year-long relationship they drifted apart when she moved to Paris to run a shop.

A few years later Mr Smith tracked down her mother’s address in Spain and wrote her a letter in the hope of rekindling their romance. Ms Ruiz-Perez’s mother put the letter on the mantelpiece, from where it slipped down the back of the fireplace and remained unopened for the next ten years. Shocked

In literature, and in particular the novels of Thomas Hardy — also set in the West Country — such a mishap would have been the cause of years of unhappiness, the lovers marrying the wrong person and at least one of them suffering a tragic and untimely death.

But for the real-life couple, fate took a more down-to-earth hand when the fireplace was removed for renovations. Ms Ruiz-Perez, who had remained single, was given the letter and rang the phone number that Mr Smith had written on the note. They met up in Paris a few days later, rediscovered their old love and married last week.

Mr Smith, 42, a factory supervisor from Paignton, said: “When we met again it was like a film. We ran across the airport into each other’s arms. We met up and fell in love all over again. Within 30 seconds of setting eyes on each other we were kissing. I’m just glad the letter did eventually end up where it was supposed to be.”

Ms Ruiz-Perez, 42, said: “I never got married and now I’m marrying the man I have always loved. When I got the letter I didn’t phone Steve right away because I was so nervous. I nearly didn’t phone him at all. I kept picking up the phone then putting it down again. But I knew I had to make the call.” Very Happy

...

http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/relationships/article6719737.ece

Posted: 22-07-2009 11:00 Post subject:

Daley wins historic World title
13th FINA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Date: 17 July - 2 August Venue: Foro Italico, Rome

British teenager Tom Daley produced a stunning final dive to win a shock gold at his first World Championships.

The 15-year-old was lying third in the 10m platform final heading into the sixth round, but scored 100.30 with his final effort as his rivals faltered.

Pre-event favourite Qiu Bo was second, with Olympic gold medallist Matt Mitcham back in fourth.

Daley, seventh in the 2008 Olympic final, becomes Britain's first individual diving world champion.

Pete Waterfield and Leon Taylor were Britain's last world medallists in 2005.

"I really can't believe it," the teenager told BBC Sport.

"I was going into the competition thinking 'just go in there, do what you can and give your best performance' and to come away with a gold medal is not even thinkable.

"It hasn't sunk in. I was hanging on for fourth place, let alone the gold medal. I can't believe it."

Daley, who has targeted gold at the 2012 Olympics in London, was considered only an outside hope for a medal heading into the final.

The 15-year-old's lack of experience means his repertoire of dives is less complicated and has a lower points tariff than his rivals'.

"I really didn't think I would get anywhere near the medals," he admitted later.

"So to win gold, it's just unthinkable, especially when I have the lowest degree of difficulty of everybody there, it's crazy."

Daley kept in touch with Chinese pair Qiu and Zhou Luxin as well as Australian Mitcham with his first four dives.

His fifth dive moved him up to third and when Zhou - a silver medallist in Beijing - made a mistake on his final dive, a medal was within reach for Daley.

The British schoolboy nailed his final effort, receiving three perfect 10s and three 9.5s. Very Happy

That put his total at 539.85, just 15.05 points short of his personal best.

He then watched Mitcham make a complete mess of his sixth dive, before Qiu - who beat Daley at the World Junior Championships last year - made a mistake with his entry into the water.

As Qiu's score of 79.80 flashed up on the screen, a disbelieving Daley was left to celebrate winning World Championship gold at the first attempt.

His father Rob, who arranged for Tom to move schools recently after his son was the victim of bullying, was overwhelmed.

"It was a brilliant feeling when he was fourth," he said. "Then when he got bronze it was amazing. When he got silver I thought 'don't let it stop'.

"Then waiting for the last score when the Chinese man dived seemed like an eternity.

"I had a flashback of his life and I looked up and thought he's a world champion and he's 15. yeay

"It's an unbelievable feeling."

The Plymouth diver has a chance to win a second medal in Saturday's synchronised event, when he partners Max Brick.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/diving/8159806.stm

Posted: 31-07-2009 12:47 Post subject:

And another talented young man...

(Article shows 9 of his pictures.)

Pictured: Incredible watercolour paintings by boy aged just SIX
By Andrew Levy
Last updated at 8:59 PM on 30th July 2009

A street scene from the paintbrush of a child usually involves triangle-topped boxes for houses. And often an unnaturally large dog.
But Kieron Williamson's attempts are so beautifully rendered that artists ten times his age will be filled with envy.

Experts have said that the six-year-old's atmospheric paintings, which began with harbour scenes and expanded to include rural vistas, animal portraits and landmarks, have perspective, shadow and reflections that demonstrate an ability well beyond his years.

He is even preparing for his first exhibition in a gallery near his home in Holt, Norfolk.
His mother, Michelle, said: 'Until last year he didn't draw anything and in fact we had to draw dinosaurs for him to colour in.
'The turning point was when we took our first family holiday to Devon and Cornwall last May and he liked the boats and scenery. He asked for some plain paper and started drawing his own stuff.

'At the time, they were like the drawings of most five-year-olds but he really took off after going to some art classes.'
Mrs Williamson, 36, a nutritional therapist, is married to art dealer Keith, 43. The couple also have a daughter, Billie-Jo, five.
'We often think about why Kieron has chosen art in this way and I think it's because we live in a top-floor flat and we have no garden or outside space, so perhaps he's had to create his own scenery,' she said.

Kieron appears to agree. 'I like painting because it's fun and inspiring. It makes me think of places I can't see,' he said. His talent was recognised by a family friend, artist Carol Ann Pennington, who offered to give him lessons.
She said: 'I have known Kieron since he was a baby but I had no idea he had it in him.'
His hero is Norfolk landscape artist Edward Seago, who died in 1974. The late Queen Mother was an avid fan, and bought many of his paintings.

Obviously keen to follow in his footsteps by courting royal patronage, Kieron said: 'I'm going to send one of my pictures to Prince Charles. I've already sent one to the Queen but I haven't had a reply yet.'
An exhibition of his work will go on display on Sunday - two days before his seventh birthday - at Mrs Pennington's gallery, The Last Picture Show In Town.

Art expert Jeremy Green, owner of The Canon Gallery in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, said of Kieron's work: 'It is unusual to see someone of that age painting with such definition and in such a stylistic way. Normally they would be splashing colour all over the place.
'Some of these watercolours have a very rigid structure as if he has been painting in that style for some time. They are very good, there's no doubt about it.'

• Kieron's work is on show at the Last Picture Show In Town, Cromer Road, Holt, Norfolk, from Sunday.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1203226/Pictured-Incredible-watercolour-paintings-boy-aged-just-SIX.html

Posted: 11-08-2009 22:28 Post subject:

Cat saves man from burning home

A pet cat is being hailed a hero after saving a man from his burning home.

Engineer Andrew Williams was asleep when the fire broke out at his bungalow in Bracknell in Berkshire.

As black smoke filled the property, his neighbour's cat Hugo came through a cat-flap and raised the alarm by clawing at the father-of-two's face.

Rescuers said that the fire could have killed Mr Williams if he had not been awoken by Hugo. A smoke detector had been moved during work on the bungalow.

The fire, which broke out at the family home in Birch Hill at about 0200 BST on 1 August, was caused by an electrical fault.

Mr Williams had removed a smoke detector from his ceiling while decorating and moved it to a different place. It only activated after he had been woken up.

He said he then went into "autopilot", calling the fire service and trying to put out the blaze himself.

Mr Williams, whose wife Sarah was visiting her sister at the time, was treated at the scene after breathing in smoke.

Hugo and his brother Harvey are regular visitors to the cat lover's home.

Mr Williams said: "I was woken up with Hugo sitting on top of me clawing at my face. He was trying to wake me up.

"The fire chief said that I had better buy the cat a big piece of fish because he saved my life. Very Happy

"I'm just so thankful to that little fella."

A spokesman for Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue said: "We are delighted that this very fire-aware cat was able to alert the family on this occasion.

"This just highlights the importance of having working smoke detectors inside your home."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/berkshire/8195156.stm

Posted: 04-09-2009 12:43 Post subject:

Abandoned piglet is lost and hound: Giant farm dog saves baby pig's bacon by adopting it as one of its own
By Liam Milller
Last updated at 8:13 AM on 04th September 2009

A giant farm dog and a tiny piglet cuddle up as if they were family after the baby runt was dismissed by its own mother.

Surrogate mum Katjinga, an eight-year-old Rhodesian Ridgeback, took on motherly duties for grunter Paulinchen - a tiny pot-bellied pig - and seems to be taking the adoption in her stride.

Lonely Paulinchen was luckily discovered moments from death and placed in the care of the dog who gladly accepted it as one of her own. Thankfully for the two-week old mini porker, Katjinga fell in love with her at first sight and saved her bacon.

And the unlikely relationship has made the wrinkly piggy a genuine sausage dog. In these adorable images Paulinchen can even be seen trying to suckle from her gigantic new mum.
The two animals live together on a huge 20-acre farm in Hoerstel, Germany, where Katjinga's owners Roland Adam, 54, and his wife Edit, 44, a bank worker, keep a pair of breeding Vietnamese pigs.

Property developer Roland found the weak and struggling piglet after she was abandoned by the rest of her family one evening after she was born.
He said: "The pigs run wild on our land and the sow had given birth to a litter of five in our forest.
"I found Paulinchen all alone and when I lifted her up she was really cold.

"I felt sure some local foxes would have taken the little pig that very night so I took it into my house and gave her to Katjinga.
"She had just finished with a litter of her own, who are now 10 months, so I thought there was a chance she might take on the duties of looking after her.

"Katjinga is the best mother you can imagine. She immediately fell in love with the piggy. Straight away she started to clean it like it was one of her own puppies.
"Days later she started lactating again and giving milk for the piggy. She obviously regards it now as her own baby."
Mum of the year? Quite possibly. Very Happy

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1210909/Abandoned-piglet-lost-hound-Giant-farm-dog-saves-baby-pigs-bacon-adopting-own.html#ixzz0Q84fgZO0

Posted: 18-09-2009 12:07 Post subject:

Dog falls 180ft down mineshaft and survives for six days
A dog fell 180ft down a mineshaft and survived for six days without food and water before being rescued unharmed.
Published: 7:00AM BST 18 Sep 2009

Rebecca Lewis, 38, searched for days for Coco, her Patterdale Terrier, after it went missing on a walk.

Miss Lewis, a self-employed artist and property developer, searched for specialist maps of mine shafts in the area and contacted dog charity Dog Lost! who put her in touch with a group of cavers who eventually pulled Coco out of the dry shaft.

A vet gave her a clean bill of health, aside from a small cut above her eye and a sore leg - and she did not require any treatment.

Miss Lewis took Coco for a walk with friends and family on the evening of September 4 when Coco disappeared at Little Brunnion, near Trencrom, Cornwall.

Miss Lewis said that there were no warning signs or fenced off areas signifying open shafts in the densely overgrown area.

"We had no idea they were there," she said. "I had no cause for concern. It was busy - there were four children. Fifteen minutes down the footpath I realised she was gone."

After searching for a couple of hours Miss Lewis, from nearby St Ives, feared that Coco had got herself trapped down a badger set, before a resident of a local house informed her that the area had mineshafts.

On Tuesday when cavers got to the area they found that the heavy vegetation made it too unsafe to search in the failing light.

Returning on Wednesday the three members of the team decided to embark on a first descent and it was the shaft that Coco had fallen into.

"As rescuer Darrel Henderson lowered himself into the shaft, Ms Lewis said she doubted that Coco would be alive and feared the worst - even asking the team not to radio a message that her dog was dead from the bottom of the shaft.

"I thought she would be dead if she is down one. I had no doubts," she said.

"It was a lot deeper than they thought.

"He carried on going, it seemed like 10 minutes. The next thing we heard was a loud "whoopee."

"Then I heard Coco barking for the first time.

"That was an amazing feeling.

"He radioed to say, 'One dog alive and well. Very Happy

"He said the first thing he saw was two little lights of her eyes.

"Then it all went quiet for 15 minutes. It took him 15 minutes to persuade Coco into this little bag.

"Then he started coming up with her tied on behind in this little bag."

A distressed and very thin Coco returned to daylight and the arms of her owner - though she was in shock and tried to run off.

"She didn't recognize me. She was trying to run into the undergrowth," Ms Lewis said.

"After about 10 minutes of talking to her and holding her she calmed down.

"She was remarkable uninjured.

"I just think it's amazing. I was amazed, relieved, I think it was a bit of a miracle really. It was the help that I got that really touched me - it was the fact that everybody that helped were volunteers."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/6203321/Dog-falls-180ft-down-mineshaft-and-survives-for-six-days.html

Posted: 01-10-2009 23:39 Post subject:

Malawi windmill boy with big fans

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/8257153.stm

(Considering the number of wind turbines sprouting it up over Europe and the US, it seems strange that no Western do-gooder thought to introduce them to Africa, so this young man had to invent the technology for himself... Rolling Eyes

)

Posted: 05-11-2009 12:26 Post subject:

Baby with rare disease cured in medical world first
Sophie Tedmanson in Sydney

An Australian infant with a rare and usually fatal disease has been cured with treatment that has previously been used only on mice, in what doctors are claiming is the first medical procedure of its type in the world.

The infant, known as Baby Z, was born with molybdenum cofactor deficiency type A, a rare progressive neurodegenerative disorder in which a build-up of toxic sulphite causes fits and brain damage, and results in death in infancy.

Until now, there has been no known cure for the metabolic condition, which kills about 100 babies a year.

A team from the Monash Medical Centre in Victoria scoured medical literature looking for a cure for Baby Z after she was diagnosed with the condition when she began suffering seizures just 60 hours after she was born in May last year.

Her doctors discovered a medical paper written by a German plant biologist, Guenter Schwarz, who had been working on the experimental drug cyclic pyranopterin monophosphate (cPMP) for 15 years, but had tested it only on 20 laboratory mice.

Even though it had never been tested on humans, Dr Schwarz sent his entire stock of the compound – which he had found negated the levels of sulphite in the body – on dry ice from Cologne to Melbourne.

The unapproved experimental procedure then had to be cleared by a bio-ethics board and the Family Court in Melbourne before doctors were able to administer it to Baby Z, whose sulphite levels had risen so high they were dissolving her brain and her condition was deteriorating by the hour.

Approval was given on June 6 last year, and within 90 minutes her treatment began injecting the baby with cPMP. Within three days Baby Z, who had been in a comatose state, “woke up”, according to her neonatal paediatrician Dr Alex Veldman.

“It was really like an awakening, it was incredible to see,” Dr Veldman told The Times.

Baby Z’s mother described it as “the most difficult thing anyone could ever go through”.

She added: "It was the most challenging and most traumatic time of our lives."

Dr Veldman said that the procedure carried many risks. “There was no precedent. We had no way of knowing if there would be any side effects, if it would even work, or even how much of the cPMP to administer,” he said.

Baby Z’s mother said that she had allowed her daughter to be a treated with the drug because the only other option was death.

“There was courage and there was death – we opted for courage,” the mother said. “If she wasn't treated she would have died a very painful death.”

Baby Z will need to receive an injection of cPMP every day for the rest of her life, and she suffers from developmental delay. However, her condition has improved remarkably and she is now beginning to move around and has begun to talk.

“She is such a lovely little girl. She’s very happy and very well loved,” Dr Veldman said.

As a result of Baby Z’s successful treatment, a baby in Germany has also been saved. The baby boy, who was born four weeks ago, has received the same treatment and according to Dr Veldman is also recovering. “It’s like a carbon copy, it’s incredible,” he said.

Next week Dr Veldman and Dr Schwarz will head to the US with a team of doctors for discussions with the Food and Drug Administration in the hope of developing the treatment for use worldwide, along with a global trial of the therapy. They will also seek approval from the European Medicines Agency in London.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article6903996.ece