BABY Jacob MacFarlane was so gravely ill on Christmas Eve that his parents took a last picture and kissed him goodbye.

Gemma and David MacFarlane were warned by doctors that Jacob had little chance of surviving the night when he was taken to hospital suffering from a collapsed lung and pneumonia.

But last night, five-week-old Jacob was back home with his parents in Darlington after surviving against all the odds.

And the MacFarlane family celebrated Christmas three weeks late after being reunited with their son.

Gemma, of Leyburn Road, Darlington, said: "He miraculously got better, despite what everyone said.

"All the doctors didn't think he was going to get better. I just can't describe it any other way but a miracle. We said goodbye because we honestly didn't think we'd see him again."

The couple initially took their baby to Darlington Memorial Hospital, at 7am on Christmas Eve, because he was not breathing well.

Gemma thought she was being an over-protective mother, but doctors found the baby had only ten per cent of his lung capacity left.

They rushed him into theatre and kept him on ventilation while they called a specialist team from the paediatric Intensive Care Unit at Newcastle General Hospital.

The team arrived at 11.30am, but the baby was transferred to Newcastle within an hour.

Gemma, 23, said: "He was so small on his bed and he was incredibly cold because he had shut down. It was just awful."

She and David, 24, went with him to Newcastle and said what they thought would be their final farewell before being urged to return home to spend Christmas Day with their children Ethan, four, and two-year-old Joshua.

She said: "When we left him on Christmas Eve, I was heartbroken. I felt really, really guilty.

"The doctors convinced me there was nothing we could do and that we had to be at home with the other two."

As her son battled for life, Gemma witnessed a poignant moment as two people on the ward appeared in angel costumes.

Gemma said: "These two girls came out of the ward dressed as angels and they went straight up to Jacob's bed. It was like they were his guardian angels.

"Me and David have never been religious, but we went to St Mark's Church on Christmas Eve to light a candle and say prayers. We spoke to the vicar and he put Jacob on the prayer list."

They visited Jacob every day, until he was taken off ventilation and finally allowed back home.

His grandmother, June MacFarlane, has set up a website to raise money for the hospital at www.justgiving.com/junemac1