How couple’s unusual wedding sparked their daughter’s recovery against the odds

A Queensland couple told to prepare for the worst after their newborn became gravely ill are now getting set to bring their little girl home after more than eight months in hospital.

Baby Haylee Camm has bravely battled sepsis, meningitis, a silent infant stroke, and a hypoxic brain injury during her short life.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: The tiny Queensland baby who defied all odds.

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She was given slim chances of survival, but her parents never gave up hope.

“The last couple of weeks have been so hard to keep up with her progress,” her mum Ashleigh Camm told 7NEWS.

Parents Ashleigh and Leonard Camm, from Maryborough, created a bucket list last year, which included getting married in the Queensland Children’s Hospital intensive care unit, where Haylee was being cared for.

In preparation for that, Haylee underwent a tracheotomy — a procedure to create a hole in the neck to the windpipe to aid breathing.

“The tracheotomy for Haylee’s comfort, was Haylee’s lifesaver,” said Ashleigh.

As her parents said, “I do”, a week after the tracheotomy in November, Haylee opened her eyes. Since then, she hasn’t looked back.

“We knew she was a fighter, as stubborn as Mum and Dad are,” Leonard said.

Haylee has since been hitting normal baby milestones such as sitting, rolling, and learning to crawl.

Her biggest achievement has been going 12 hours a day off ventilation.

“We have gone from a girl that wasn’t going to make it, to a girl that won’t succumb to her injuries,” said Ashleigh.

For seven months, the family has travelled between Maryborough and Brisbane — a 260km trip each way — every week and been staying at the Ronald McDonald House.

“If we are successful in getting her off ventilation, we get to take Haylee home,” said Ashleigh, with a GoFundMe campaign also set up to support the family.

Ashleigh and Leonard are hopeful Haylee will be reunited with identical twin sister Hannah at home for their first birthday.

“(They have) a lot of bonding to catch up on,” Ashleigh said.