TODAY is little Blake Proctor’s first birthday, but he is too young to realise just how incredibly special he is.

This time last year a ‘miracle’ happened for Helen and Marc Proctor.

After suffering three miscarriages, seven gruelling rounds of fertility treatment, a total of £90,000 and the ultimate gift from a selfless stranger in Spain, the couple finally got the one thing they had longed for – a family.

However, born weighing just 1lb 6oz at just 23 weeks old, days after his twin brother Jaxon died, the couple were given just a five per cent chance their son would survive.

But just like his parents, little Blake is a fighter and has battled for every step of his life and is today thriving.

“I don’t think there are many people who could go through everything we’ve been through these past seven years.

“It takes a toll, not only mentally but physically. To be beaten down so much it’s gut-wrenching.

“Each time you are buying a £6,000 lottery ticket, with absolutely no guarantees, it can work and it can really tear you apart, then so many times we thought we would lose him.

“Blake is our true miracle and he’s worth it all. He’s a joy and thank God he’s here.”

Marc, added: “I’m lucky my job has allowed us to spend that money, but would I do it again? We wanted a family, full stop. I’d go through it a million times just so I could have him here. We are complete now. There are no other words to describe it – just complete.”

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Ever since the couple met back in 2002, they spoke about how much they wanted children and after marrying in 2007, they started trying for a baby straight away.

However, following nearly two years of trying with no joy, Helen, a healthcare assistant, and Marc, an |ex-Marine who is now a project manager for a private security firm in the Middle East, sought medical help.

Not meeting the criteria for IVF on the NHS, the couple turned to private clinics for help.

Helen was devastated when tests revealed she had a low and poor quality egg count as well as endometriosis making it unlikely she would conceive naturally.

However the couple, from Totton, never gave up despite continued failed attempts at IVF at various private clinics in Hampshire and London.

“It was horrific. I became a recluse. I walked away from all my friends. It would kill me when my friends would say they were pregnant.

“I realised I couldn’t give Marc the one thing we wanted – a family. I really struggled with that and the whole thing was a very lonely process.”

It soon became clear their only hope would be to use an egg donor.

The couple discovered in the UK a new rule was in place ensuring all egg donors were on a register, allowing children to track the donor down later in life.

The UK clinic though gave them information about their sister centre in Alicante in Spain, where the rule |wasn’t in place and more egg donors were available.

Tests and scans were done in the UK and the couple flew out to Spain to have the eggs implanted.

Helen, said: “All we knew was she was 20 and had the same blood as me.

When we went to the clinic, knowing she was in the building doing something really painful for a couple she’d never met potentially giving us the greatest gift anyone could ever give, it was very emotional. As soon as they told us she had given us 15 eggs, we both started crying.”

Marc and Helen, both 34, were over the moon when they found out they were pregnant with twins.

However that immense joy was shortlived. A scan at seven weeks revealed news almost too heart-breaking to take in – one of the babies had not survived and Helen had a surgical abortion. Three weeks later the other twin died.

“Even after the miscarriage, which was horrific, in a way it gave us hope the fact I could do it. You have to always believe you will get there.”

On December 5, 2013, Helen had two embryos transferred and tested positive four days later.

“I was just overwhelmed. It was confirmed at seven weeks we had two heartbeats there,” explained Helen.

A due date of August 27 was given, but on April 28 last year, Helen’s waters broke while Marc was away in Iraq.

“I was told to terminate the pregnancy. I was told to prepare to lose both babies. It was horrific.”

Doctors sent Helen home on bed rest and she spent six days resting before her labour started.

Little Jaxon was born on May 4 weighing 1lb 6oz, but he died 45 minutes later.

“He was born before the abortion limit so they wouldn’t stop my labour, wouldn’t give him steroids to mature his lungs and wouldn’t do anything to help him survive before 24 weeks, but thankfully the consultant changed his mind because my labour stopped between deliveries. He gave me the steroids to mature his lungs, magnesium to stop brain bleeds and some muscle relaxant to hold my labour off – which is why he is here.”

Nearly 36 hours later, Blake was born weighing 1lb 6oz – no bigger than a can of coke.

He had a perforated bowel, and was on a ventilator, had a colostomy bag, needed an eye treatment, had life threatening infections and needed open heart surgery to survive.

“He was nine days old when he perforated his bowel and that was the day they told us he wasn’t going to make it.

“Initially they weren’t even going to operate on him because they said he wouldn’t survive the surgery. It was sickening.

“We begged the surgeons saying you’ve gone to university. You have all these skills, let him decide what |he does from here on. And they did, they changed their minds and they operated.”

Despite the odds, Blake survived and after six months in hospital was able to go home.

This year he has undergone several operations and due to being born so prematurely still has oxygen at night to protect his developing lungs.

But today, despite his regular hospital check-ups, he is like any other one-year-old.

Marc is home from a job in Kurdistan, Iraq and the trio are preparing a day at the aquarium.

Marc, said: “No words can describe the love we have for him and how proud we are to have created this little man.”

Every day the couple are full of gratitude for the woman who donated her eggs – and for the team at Southampton’s Princess Anne hospital who saved their baby’s life.

“I always wondered how I would feel knowing technically DNA wise, he’s nothing to do with me. That doesn’t come into it at all. The first time I saw him on the scan, felt him kick, held him, he’s very much mine.

“Someone has given us the most selfless gift. Giving me the opportunity to be a mum and Marc a dad and create a lifetime of memories, is just incredible.

“The staff and doctors in Southampton were truly amazing. We can’t wait to tell Blake the story behind his scars.”