A TEENAGER who weighed less than a bag of sugar when she was born but defied the odds to survive is all set to celebrate her 18th birthday.
Doctors had to fight to save the life of Megan Haworth, when she was born 10 weeks premature at Queen's Park Hospital, Blackburn.
Megan, of Burnley Road, Accrington, weighed just one pound 15 ounces and was suffering from septicaemia, or blood poisoning, forcing staff to keep her on an incubator for two months.
When she was born, medical staff were so uncertain about her future that they encouraged her mum Anne Kennedy, 49, to have her christened at the hospital after she was found to have contracted jaundice.
She needed three blood transfusions in the two months she spent in hospital and until she was six months old suffered from a condition which meant she kept forgetting to breathe.
Anne said: "When Megan was born I developed an infection. At one point the doctors said they would have to choose between saving me or her. I was really scared that she was going to die.
"After she left hospital she had to have a brain scan to check there was no damage. She was poorly for about the first year but started growing normally after that.
"She is a very sensible girl and she loves her music. She's always going to concerts and she is definitely a fighter. We are pleased she is now doing so well on her college course and she is looking forward to her party."
Megan, a tourism and leisure student at Accrington and Rossendale College, is all set to celebrate her birthday at Upsi bar, Accrington, with 80 guests.
She said: "I am really enjoying my course and in a few months we will be going to Barcelona, which I am looking forward to. I am in my first year at the moment and when I finish I would like to work on board a cruise ship."
Megan, who is also a keen music fan, enjoying bands including Marilyn Manson, also has a brother Vincent, 28, and a sister Zoe, 32.
She is a former pupil of Huncoat Primary School and The Hollins Technology College.
