The mother of a “miracle boy” born four months premature who was not predicted to live into 2009 is looking forward to bringing him home for the first time.

Eighteen-week-old Jardell weighed just 2lb when he was born at Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital with a string of life-threatening illnesses – on three occasions, his mum Hailey was told by doctors to say goodbye.

A brain bleed meant the tot developed a post-haemorrhagic hydrocephalus — fluid on the brain which causes the skull to swell — and further complications including chronic lung disease, coliform on the lungs and epilepsy.

But now mum Hailey Townsend, of Balfour Road, Blackbird Leys, Oxford, is preparing to bring him home for the New Year, despite the boy undergoing two brain operations and being put on a life-support machine.

Mother-of-four Miss Townsend, 24, said: “He’s a very brave little soldier who has really struggled through. They told me he wasn’t going to make it when he was born, but we had him baptised and he pulled through.

“He got poorly again, but again he pulled through. He was then moved to a children’s ward but he caught bacterial bronchitis and was put on a life-support machine and I was told to say my goodbyes.

“He’s been defying everybody against all the odds.”

The youngster’s head swelled from 26.7cm when he was born to 41cm. The extent of Jardell’s disability is not yet clear, but Miss Townsend praised the staff at the hospital who had helped her every step of the way.

She said: “It’s not something that’s going to clear up. He will be left with some disability. With the blood pressure on the brain he will have some special needs but we just don’t know what he will be able to do, such as whether he will be able to talk.

“The doctors and nurses have been amazing. It is one of the best hospitals in the world and we are so lucky to have it here in Oxford.

“Everything I went through — when I thought I couldn’t cope, or thought of giving up — the nurses were always there for me.

“When I was told he might not pull through, they were there to tell me that miracles can happen.”

Now Miss Townsend and her children Kimberley, six, Emily, four, and Jamie, three, are searching for the perfect New Year gift to make Jardell’s life outside hospital more comfortable. They want to find a hat to cope with his swollen head.

Miss Townsend said: “Nowhere makes special hats and I fear when he is discharged, being without a hat, he will become very critically ill again.

“I’ve scoured the Internet for weeks, but nothing. I sent a message to a company in America, but I didn’t get anything back.”

Can you help baby Jardell find a hat? Call our newsdesk on 01865 425422.

tairs@oxfordmail.co.uk