A HIGHBRIDGE baby has been hailed a ‘little miracle’ after battling a brain tumour which caused her to lose her sight.

Lyra Cole, now 18 months, was diagnosed with a brain tumour at six months old.

At first her worried parents Ellie and Daniel did not know what was wrong when her behaviour suddenly changed and she seemed very tired.

Her symptoms, which included a rash and her head becoming slightly enlarged, were similar to meningitis, making her condition difficult to diagnose.

Finally she was taken in for lifesaving surgery to remove the tumour in November last year and was transferred to Frenchay, where her parents faced an agonising wait to see if she would pull through.

Doctors said if the tumour had been left just another 24 hours the outcome could have been very different as it had started to haemorrhage.

Lyra recovered but at her first birthday on May 12 her family noticed something was wrong again.

Her aunt Jessie Hawkes told the Weekly News: “We all thought the worst that the tumour was back but it turned out that it was a cyst which was growing close to her optical nerve and had affected her sight.

“At one point she was diagnosed fully blind but she has bravely fought this and can see again.

“She had to undergo brain surgery again at the children’s hospital in Bristol. At that point she could only recognise day and night.

“She got through it all again and really is our little miracle.

Doctors are amazed she has done so well.

“Eye tests have shown she seems to have good vision in both eyes but she will have to be tested as she gets older.”

Jessie has started organising events to raise money for Brain Tumour Research with friend Jake Hodge, which has included help from close family friend Tatum Clews, a manager at Costa in Bridgwater, who ran an event at the store on Saturday.

The next fundraising event, a Santa’s Grotto, is at the Lighthouse pub in Burnham on Friday, December 12, from 5pm to 9pm, with around 600 people expected.

All the tickets to see Santa are booked but people can just turn up to enjoy some live music and see Santa arriving on his sleigh.

If the fundraising campaign reaches £2,800 this will fund a day’s research and Lyra will be declared a Little Heroine.