IT'S THE day the Gallienne family feared they might never see - little Olivia, their one-in-a-million baby, is back home from hospital for the first time in nearly a year-and-a-half.
The youngest child ever to be treated for leukaemia at Southampton General Hospital, Olivia developed the disease at just five weeks old.
Since then she has been an inspiration to the 10,000 runners taking part in Race for Life in Southampton and in February she was presented with a Cancer Research UK Little Star award.
She will celebrate her second birthday at home soon. Parents Andrew and Katie are delighted with her progress.
"We didn't think she would live to see her first birthday and in February this year, we thought she wouldn't make it to her second, but she's made it nevertheless," said Katie, 28, speaking from their home in Alresford.
Transplant Since she went to Bristol for a bone marrow transplant in December 2005, Olivia's family has been on an emotional roller-coaster.
There have been occasions when they thought they would lose their baby but even when the odds were against her, Olivia pulled through.
Katie said: "There were two or three times that we were told to say goodbye to her. The worst time was in February when she was suffering from internal bleeding and she had to have part of her stomach removed.
"They didn't know whether it would work or not and they gave us a less than five per cent chance of her pulling through.
"They told us that if we thought she had been through enough they would not operate on her again but while there was a chance, we always said yes.
"I didn't ever imagine that she would not come back from the operating theatre."
The family endured weeks of travelling to and fro from the hospital in Bristol, taking it in turns to be with Olivia and also care for Jazmine, 6.
Andrew, 35, said: "It was hard on Jazmine because there were times she wasn't always allowed on the ward to see Olivia because she wasn't old enough, but Olivia had a photo of Jazmine with her that she would kiss."
During her short life, Olivia has spent 515 days in hospital and the family faces a great deal of hard work.
Prior to the transplant she was starting to crawl but due to the time she has spent in hospital and the cocktail of drugs that have been administered, Olivia's muscles have wasted.
"She will be having physiotherapy and hydrotherapy to help her build up her muscles.
"They are happy she will crawl again because she has done it before," said Katie.
"She needs to take 16 drugs a day and every three days she has to have blood tests at Southampton General Hospital.
"It's hard work doing all the drugs but it's great to have her home."
