IPSWICH: When Skyla Creamer was born she weighed just 3lb 5oz but had a smile that melted her parents' hearts.

Hollie-Rae Merrick

IPSWICH: When Skyla Creamer was born she weighed just 3lb 5oz but had a smile that melted her parents' hearts.

She was born eight weeks early under an emergency caesarean and measured just 15 inches.

When doctors at Ipswich Hospital performed an ultrasound they discovered brave Skyla had suffered brain damage.

Over the next few days her condition deteriorated and a week after being born she was moved to Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, by the Acute Neonatal Transfer Service (ANTS).

Today her proud parents - Avril and David of Robeck Road, Ipswich - are raising money for the team who helped to save the life of their daughter, who is now 18-months-old.

After spending five days at Addenbrooke's Hospital brave Skyla was stable enough to return to Ipswich Hospital but the brain damage has left her with a number of problems including cerebral palsy, epilepsy, poor hearing and vision and short life expectancy.

Mr Creamer, 27, who travelled to Addenbrooke's every day with his wife, said spending time with their daughter was precious.

“She makes us smile every single day and we cherish every day with her - when she smiles and laughs, it's a joy,” he said. “Her older sister, Isobelle, loves being a big sister and giving lots of cuddles.”

To thank the ANTS team for their hard work and dedication to ill children, Mr Creamer took part in the annual abseil at Ipswich Hospital earlier this year to raise vital funds for the team and for special care baby charity Bliss.

The Creamer family has now been asked to take part in the ANTS Christmas Appeal to raise more than �39,000 for a new mobile incubator.

“We are incredibly proud to be part of such an important appeal, for such a worthy cause,” Mr Creamer added. “If it wasn't for the ANTS team then Skyla wouldn't have been transferred to get the treatment she needed - they really don't get the credit or the recognition they deserve. We felt that she was in very safe hands.”

Would you like to thank medical staff for the treatment you or a loved one have received? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich IP4 1AN or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk.

The ANTS appeal

�39,980 is needed to buy a new mobile incubator for ANTS.

ANTS is based at Addenbrooke's Hospital but serves the whole of the east of England, including 18 different hospitals across six counties.

Last year ANTS carried out 760 transfers of newborn babies - many of which were born prematurely.

For more information or to donate money to the appeal visit www.act4addenbrookes.org.uk/news/ANTSappeal.asp.