A BEWDLEY woman who cheated death after being given only a 25 per cent chance of surviving meningitis is celebrating her second miracle - a healthy baby boy.

Toby Frost, who will be five months old next week, weighed just 24 ounces when his mum, Vicky Richardson, had a caesarean section following blood poisoning and liver failure. Vicky Richardson and baby Toby with proud dad Tony Frost who says "we are so happy and grateful".

And Toby, who was given just a 40 per cent chance of living when he was born in May, stopped breathing five times following a hernia operation at Birmingham Children's Hospital in mid-August.

But celebrations are now very much the order of the day as Vicky, 33, and proud dad Tony Frost, 37, settle into a "normal" routine of sleepless nights at their home in Coniston Way.

Vicky, who lost all the toes and part of the ball of her right foot and the fingertips on her left hand after contracting meningicoccal septicaemia five years ago, told the Shuttle/Times and News she had been looking forward to a routine pregnancy after her meningitis ordeal. Tiny Toby, who weighed in at just 24 ounces and spent the first weeks of his life in an incubator.

However, on Friday, May 11, after feeling unwell, she saw a duty doctor at Bewdley Medical Centre who failed to find any cause for alarm.

But after her health deteriorated she was taken to Kidderminster Hospital by her fianc Tony the next day and was subsequently transferred to Ronkswood Hospital in Worcester.

"We still thought it would just be a three-day bed rest," said Vicky. "But then the doctors and nurses came in looking very serious and we knew something was wrong."

The couple were told the placenta was poisoning the blood of mum and baby and the condition was very advanced. In addition, Vicky was also suffering from liver failure.

Doctors said the condition could only be alleviated by the delivery of the baby, then only 25 weeks old, but they did not have the facilities to look after him.

There were no free cots at Wordsley - the nearest suitable hospital -- and eventually, after urgent phone calls, one was found at Manchester's St Mary's Hospital.

"I was transferred by ambulance in the early hours of a Sunday morning," said Vicky. "We were both in a state of shock."

After receiving two blood transfusions, a caesarean operation was carried out on May 16 and Toby was placed in an incubator. "He looked like a little Action Man," said Tony.

"They thought there was a good chance he would not live," added Vicky. "We were told it was less than a 40 per cent chance."

Tony, a sheet metal worker, spent two weeks sleeping at the hospital as mum and baby recovered and subsequently drove to and from Manchester twice a week.

But although Vicky was discharged on June 1, Toby had to remain at the hospital for another six weeks before being transferred with a paramedic team to Ronkswood.

In August, he was found to be suffering from a double hernia and was transferred to Birmingham's Children Hospital for an operation.

But a reaction to the anaesthetic meant Toby stopped breathing five times. He recovered and was finally allowed home on September 4.

Holding his 6lb 13oz son, Tony said: "Just looking at him makes it all worthwhile. We're so happy and grateful. He's our little miracle."