Dancing queen beat sugar bag odds
When Phoebe Wood was born she weighed less than a bag of sugar. But now, eight years later, the youngster from Wednesbury has grown into a healthy, happy child who loves to dance.
When Phoebe Wood was born she weighed less than a bag of sugar. But now, eight years later, the youngster from Wednesbury has grown into a healthy, happy child who loves to dance.
Phoebe recently took part in a dance festival.
The event took place at the Millennium Centre in Friar Park and she will also be seen this weekend with her friends performing in the All Stars group at the Sandwell Show. It was a worrying time for her parents, after her birth, as she came into the world 14 weeks early weighing in at just 1lb 10oz.
A standard bag of sugar is 2lbs 2oz.
Her life hung in the balance at doctors at Sandwell General Hospital gave her a 50-50 chance of surviving her first night.
But she got through it and was transferred to City Hospital where she spent three months in specialist care.
At four weeks old she had to have heart surgery and she suffered cardiac arrest three times.
While she was there she was spotted by television producers who needed a premature baby to appear alongside top actors for a storyline in the daytime soap Doctors.
Phoebe's mother Debbie, aged 39, said: "She was tiny and was the size that they were looking for.
"Christopher Timothy's character had a premature baby and Phoebe ended up featuring in nine episodes.
"She watched them on tape recently and couldn't believe that it was her."
Since her unexpected performance Phoebe has gone on to develop her talents for entertaining people.
She now takes part in street dancing and is always practising on her karaoke machine.
Debbie, a nurse at Walsall Manor Hospital, said: "It was a very frightening time when Phoebe was born.
"We would be at the hospital from 9am until 8pm every day and when we got home we would still phone to check.
"But she has become a healthy, happy child and she loves to dance. Her teachers are wonderful.
"She is one of the smallest in her class but other than that there is nothing to show just how close we came to losing her."
Since Phoebe was born her father Ian, a 37-year-old fabric warehouse manager, and Debbie, of Vicars Street, West Bromwich, have had another daughter, Grace, aged three.
