{"id":537850,"date":"2025-10-30T15:16:22","date_gmt":"2025-10-30T15:16:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/537850\/"},"modified":"2025-10-30T15:16:22","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T15:16:22","slug":"miracle-baby-inspires-epic-family-walk-from-devon-to-bristol","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/537850\/","title":{"rendered":"Miracle baby inspires epic family walk from Devon to Bristol"},"content":{"rendered":"

Born with a rare lung condition, baby Mireya\u2019s fight for life inspired her family to walk 125 miles for the hospital and charity that saved her<\/p>\n

14:12, 30 Oct 2025Updated 14:12, 30 Oct 2025<\/p>\n

The family are walking from Tavistock to Bristol Hospital to raise funds<\/p>\n

When Mireya Andrews celebrated her first birthday in July, it wasn\u2019t just a family occasion marked by cake and cuddles \u2014 it was a powerful milestone in a journey that began in fear and uncertainty.<\/p>\n

Her parents, Autumn and James Andrews, have lived through a year that tested them in every way: emotionally, physically, and logistically. Now, in a remarkable act of gratitude, they\u2019ve decided to walk more than 125 miles as a family \u2014 a journey that retraces the path of Mireya\u2019s earliest and most fragile days, raising money for the charity that supported them when they needed it most.<\/p>\n

Their walk started on Saturday, October 25, from their home in Tavistock<\/a>, ending at St Michael\u2019s Hospital in Bristol \u2014 the place where Mireya underwent critical treatment before and after her birth.<\/p>\n

James Andrews is walking across Dartmoor<\/p>\n

James explained what inspired the challenge: \u201cWe can\u2019t believe our little miracle turned one in July, so to mark this occasion we have decided that we want to give back to the people that were there for us and who supported us through the most challenging times as a family while she was in NICU.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mireya\u2019s story begins before she was even born. At just 34 weeks and five days gestation, she arrived into the world in a state of emergency. Though she weighed a little over five pounds, a significant amount of that was fluid retained due to a rare and life-threatening condition diagnosed during pregnancy.<\/p>\n

Autumn recalled the moment everything changed: \u201cWe received an awful diagnosis that our baby had pleural effusion and was hydropic. This meant she had fluid around her lungs and was holding too much fluid in her body, which ended up crushing and deflating her lungs from the pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mireya received fetal medicine treatment before birth and then intensive care treatment after birth for 7 weeks<\/p>\n

The family was swiftly transferred from Derriford Hospital in Plymouth<\/a> to St Michael\u2019s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in Bristol. There, a specialist named Victoria carried out a delicate and life-saving procedure: placing a shunt into Mireya while she was still in the womb to help drain the excess fluid. It gave Autumn an extra two weeks of pregnancy \u2014 a critical extension that made all the difference to Mireya\u2019s chance of survival.<\/p>\n

But when Mireya arrived via emergency caesarean, the situation remained critical. She stopped breathing moments after birth. The team resuscitated her, inserted another chest drain, and placed her on a ventilator. She would spend the next seven weeks in intensive care.<\/p>\n

The diagnosis that followed was chylothorax \u2014 a rare and complex condition that causes lymphatic fluid to leak into the space around the lungs. This made it painful and difficult for her to breathe, and nearly impossible to feed her. \u201cBecause she had a breathing tube in, and whenever she ate the fluid leaking into her body became worse, she went \u2018nil by mouth\u2019 for weeks,\u201d Autumn said.<\/p>\n

What followed was a daily rollercoaster, with each small gain hard-won. But throughout it all, the family were supported not only by the exceptional medical team but also by the charity Cots for Tots, which provided them with accommodation near the hospital. That meant their three older children could live with them in Bristol, keeping the family together during one of the most distressing periods of their lives.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn NICU, we received the best care from the most amazing consultants, doctors and nurses who we now consider lifelong friends,\u201d Autumn said. \u201cJames and I are forever grateful for the love, care and support shown to us as a family.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fmaily were there to support Mireya<\/p>\n

Small comforts made a big difference. The Miniboo \u2014 a tiny comforter that helped keep Mireya from tugging at her tubes \u2014 quickly became a fixture beside her face. And the \u2018Your NICU Story\u2019 diaries gave the family a way to record their thoughts, fears and triumphs along the way. \u201cIt was an important part of our journey, and let us reflect on how far Mireya had come,\u201d Autumn added.<\/p>\n

There were unexpected moments of joy too. \u201cSomehow, despite the situation we were in, the hospital staff turned our scariest experience into one that was also filled with fun, adventures and special memories for our other children,\u201d Autumn said. \u201cThey still speak so fondly of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

After almost seven weeks at St Michael\u2019s, Mireya began to improve. She no longer needed a ventilator or the advanced NICU care only Bristol could offer. The family were flown back to Plymouth by helicopter \u2014 \u201cin style,\u201d Autumn recalled \u2014 where they stayed for a further three weeks as Mireya completed her recovery at Derriford Hospital. In the space of just one week, she went from needing a CPAP machine to breathing on her own, and from tube feeding to taking a bottle. They even began the transition back to breastfeeding. Finally, after ten long weeks in hospital, they were discharged home \u2014 together as a family.<\/p>\n

Since then, Mireya has flourished. Now weighing a healthy 29 pounds, she\u2019s a happy, cuddly baby with a wide grin for everyone \u2014 unless she\u2019s hungry. \u201cThen we all know about it,\u201d Autumn said with a smile.<\/p>\n

To mark how far she\u2019s come, the family decided to take on a challenge rooted in appreciation and purpose. They\u2019re walking the 125-mile journey from Tavistock to Bristol \u2014 the same path they travelled under such desperate circumstances a year ago \u2014 but this time, on foot and together. \u201cWe will be sharing the walk between us and staying in our car when we can\u2019t walk any more that day,\u201d James said. \u201cWe\u2019d like to complete it within four days, but as we are taking this challenge on as a family, including all four of our children, it\u2019s more about doing it together than how long it takes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mireya is now a healthy and happy child<\/p>\n

Their goal is to raise funds for Cots for Tots, the charity that provided them with stability, compassion and practical help during their time in Bristol. \u201cLast year we were overwhelmed with the help we had from people giving money to us, so we are asking again \u2014 but this time to help the charity help other families who find themselves in the situation we were in,\u201d James said.<\/p>\n

Some of the money raised will go towards items that helped them through their hospital stay \u2014 practical things that are often overlooked, but mean everything to families in crisis.<\/p>\n

To support the Andrews family’s walk and contribute to Cots for Tots, donations can be made via their JustGiving page<\/a> :<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Born with a rare lung condition, baby Mireya\u2019s fight for life inspired her family to walk 125 miles…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":537851,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8818],"tags":[381,748,393,4884,8594,77613,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-537850","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bristol","8":"tag-bristol","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-plymouth","13":"tag-tavistock","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115463781640669750","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/537850","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=537850"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/537850\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/537851"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=537850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=537850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=537850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}