A MOTHER has told how her 16-month-old daughter has been brought back from the brink of death three times.

Tracey Cockburn was delighted when she gave birth to daughter Ellie and had no idea there was anything wrong.

But aged six months, Ellie had a fit and stopped breathing. She was taken to hospital, but the cause remained unknown.

After the first incident, Ellie's health grew worse and she suffered three heart attacks.

It was only after her third heart failure that she was diagnosed with rare congenital myasthenia, which can cause sufferers to stop breathing.

Mrs Cockburn, 35, who lives with her husband, Mark, in Walkergate, Newcastle, said: "She has had three major heart failures and the last one her heart system was so shut-down that the doctors had to take blood from her bone marrow rather than her veins."

Ellie's diagnosis was made when a doctor noticed her eyes drooping and remembered it was a sign of congenital myasthenia.

Now Ellie is given a stimulant drug every four hours and whenever she goes out, she is accompanied by an oxygen bottle and ventilator.

Mrs Cockburn, who has three other children, Faye, 16, Beth, 12, and Jessica, six, said: "She does not need to use them constantly, but she does need to have them nearby all the time." Her husband said: "We had to buy an extra-large pushchair to carry everything. I can only just get it in the car and it has to be taken everywhere."