How a newborn baby given moments to live was 'brought back from the dead' with his parents' words

Four-minute movie tells the story of premature baby Jamie's fight to survive

Victoria Richards
Friday 13 March 2015 11:03 EDT
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Four-minute movie tells the story of premature baby Jamie's fight to survive
Four-minute movie tells the story of premature baby Jamie's fight to survive (Johnson's Baby/YouTube/Kate Ogg)

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Jamie Ogg was barely 20 minutes old when a doctor turned to his parents and said: "He didn't make it".

But Jamie survived and now his parents have described the moments in which they felt like he had come back from the dead.

The four-minute film begins with Jamie's mother, Kate, recalling when she was told she was going into labour with twins at 26 weeks' pregnant.

After Jamie and his twin sister were born, the doctor asked Kate and her husband, David, if they had named her son. He then sat on the side of the bed and said: "Jamie didn't make it".

Kate describes how she then held her son’s tiny 1kg body, hugging and soothing him, telling him his twin sister, Emily, was fine and that she loved him.

"We were trying to entice him to stay. We explained his name and that he had a twin that he had to look out for and how hard we tried to have him.

"He suddenly gasped... then he opened his eyes. He was breathing and grabbing Dave's finger.

"I'd carried him inside me for only six months - not long enough - but I wanted to meet him, and to hold him, and for him to know us," Mrs Ogg said.

Jamie's parents, Kate and David, were asked to name their son – before being told he was dead
Jamie's parents, Kate and David, were asked to name their son – before being told he was dead (Johnson's Baby/YouTube/Kate Ogg)

She talked about how the couple stripped off and got into bed with their son, to give him skin-to-skin contact. "He was cold and I wanted him to be warm," Mrs Ogg said.

Soon, while they were talking and cuddling him, the couple noticed their son gasping for air, and called for medical help.

That's when Jamie reached out and grasped the tip of his father's finger.

Kate describes how she held her son’s tiny 1kg body, hugging and soothing him
Kate describes how she held her son’s tiny 1kg body, hugging and soothing him (Johnson's Baby/YouTube/Kate Ogg)

To Mr and Mrs Ogg's amazement, Jamie went on to make a full recovery. "We feel so fortunate," Mr Ogg said later. "We're the luckiest people in the world."

To Mr and Mrs Ogg's amazement, Jamie went on to make a full recovery
To Mr and Mrs Ogg's amazement, Jamie went on to make a full recovery (Johnson's Baby/YouTube/Kate Ogg)

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