MEET the Orford youngster defying doctors after taking on his first mini marathon despite his mum being told he would never be an athlete.

Proud parent Charlotte Sutcliffe said it was an emotional day when Taylor crossed the finish line after being born prematurely and spending the first three months of his life on the neonatal ward at Warrington Hospital.

The courageous Beamont Primary School pupil took on the 2k challenge to raise cash for the department that saved his life ahead of his sixth birthday on Saturday.

Mum Charlotte, aged 26, said: “I went into labour just under 27 weeks and doctors didn’t know if he would survive.

“It was so hard as I couldn’t hold him for a couple of weeks and could only look at him and he stopped breathing a number of times which was really scary.

“But after only having a 50:50 chance of surviving, he’s now our little miracle.

“He should have been in the year below because he was born three months early but he’s been doing so well and is so clever and cares so much for people.”

Taylor said he wanted to ‘raise money for the other poorly babies’ initially with the fundraising target of £200 but was delighted to smash that figure and in total raise £567 so far.

The youngster had to be ventilated when he was first born leading to doctors warning it could have damaged his lungs but Charlotte, who is also mum to Bobby, who was born prematurely at 33 weeks but is now two-and-a-half, and Imogen, aged one-and-a-half, said that did not stop him during the race.

She added: “They said he wouldn’t be an athlete and he would get out of breath more than others but he did the race without stopping which was brilliant to prove he could do it.

“We wanted to raise money to say thanks but it will never be enough.

“Bobby and Taylor might not have been here without the neonatal unit and I can’t thank them enough for their support.”