His mother Antonia had barely felt the first kick of pregnancy when her little boy decided to make his entrance into the world, an astonishing four months early.

Born at 24 weeks, little Maddison was given just a 5% chance of survival, weighing only one pound six ounces, but he fought all the way living up to the name his mum and dad gave him, after New York's Madison Square Gardens – where all the best fighters box.

Maddison is now 15 months-old and the family have been been given fantastic news to celebrate, as his mum Antonia, who feared she may never have children, has just found out she's pregnant again.
"It's the little things you take for granted," Antonia told the 'Journal.' "I didn't hold Maddison until he was three weeks old. Even then he was on a pillow and there were six nurses supervising. I was so nervous, he was just so small.

"The day we first took him home from hospital I was proud as punch. I had watched so many mums leaving hospital with their bundles and I was so happy the day we got our turn to walk to the door."

Diagnosed with polycystic ovaries when she was 19, Antonia and her husband Paul tried various fertility treatments but she failed to get pregnant.

"We were supposed to be going for IVF," she explained, "but Paul and I decided enough was enough.

"I couldn't believe it a few months later when I found out I was pregnant.

"I'd never really had a proper cycle and would dement myself doing pregnancy tests, when it came up positive, I was over the moon."

At 24 weeks gone, Antonia had barely got her pregnancy bump when she started having pains.

"That day I went to work as normal, but the pains were getting worse," she said.

"My doctor told me I was constipated, but my family convinced me to go to the hospital to get checked out. I never dreamed I was in labour. At the hospital they assured me everything was all right, it was only when the doctor examined me they discovered I was three centimetres dilated.
"Then all hell broke loose. I was rushed to the labour ward where I was put on steroids and a drip to slow down my labour.

"Doctors and paediatricians came in and told me that my baby might not survive, they asked me whether I wanted the baby resuscitated after birth.

"I was screaming and crying with the madness of it all. But I knew that no matter what I wanted this baby. The baby was a huge part of me already, so and if there was a chance of him surviving, no matter how slim, he deserved to be given it,

"That night Paul and I prayed harder than we'd ever done. Every day and hour I held on would have given my baby a better chance.

"By the third night Maddison's foot had come down, and they told me there was another complication – he was breech. It was then they told us there was a 5% chance of the baby surviving."

After a consultant massaged Antonia's stomach, the baby turned and on her fifth day in hospital she went into full blown labour.

"I was told to keep as calm as I could," said Antonia, "if I got upset, it could traumatise the baby.

"As soon as he was born, he was whisked away before I even saw him. I didn't even know if he was a boy or a girl.

"Eventually I was brought in to see him in intensive care. He was tiny, wrapped in cling film and his skin was completely see through, but to me he was the most perfect thing in the world. Maddison was so tiny that Paul was able to put his wedding band over Maddison's arms and legs.

"I didn't get to hold him until he was three weeks. They brought him to me on a wee pillow, it was like holding a Barbie doll. It was the most amazing experience of my life. Paul took a picture on my phone and I texted it to everyone I knew, I was so proud of my boy."

Maddison did well until he was five weeks old.

"He got very sick," said Antonia, wiping a tear with the memory.
"He was on 100% oxygen, his arms were waving as he struggled to breathe and they were bagging him to keep him alive. I was told to send for my family.

"It was the worst night of my life as we kept vigil and I was told to expect the worst.

"But Maddison made it, and the next day the doctor told me that my son was a miracle.

"That day I went to the chapel and prayed. I prayed for Maddison to live, but I told God if he was going to take him, to take him now, that I didn't want him to suffer.

"I always prayed to St Teresa the Little Flower. When I went back to the hospital, my friend Donna had left a yellow rose outside Maddison's room. I knew that was a sign that my prayer had been answered. Maddison had got through that night and he was going to live."

At 132 days old, the Gallagher family proudly brought their son home for the first time.

Home for good

"I was delirious," said Antonia, "but Paul and I were terrified. The staff at Altnagelvin had been so good to us, we could never thank them enough. Without Doctor Brown and his team, Maddison wouldn't be alive today. Leaving them was like leaving our second family. The first night home Paul and I just kept staring into Maddison's cradle.

"After three and a half weeks, Maddison was re-admitted, and he stayed in hospital until Christmas. Then we got him home for good."

Now a spritely 15 months Maddison is doing well.

And mum Antonia says he's living proof that babies born at 23 weeks can survive. She says she was shocked that MPs did not change the abortion cut-off date.

"They say babies can't feel pain at that age, if that's the case, why did Maddison have to be wrapped in cling film because of the cold?
"Why did he wave his arms gasping for breath.

"In other countries the legal limit for abortion is 26 weeks, I just can't understand it.

"If Maddison had been born a day earlier, doctors would not have been obliged to resuscitate him. God bless anyone faced with that terrible choice but I look at Maddison and think – he survived, he's proof it can happen."

Paul and Antonia have both had to give up their jobs to care for Maddison.

"The doctors say he's showing signs of cerebral palsy on one side, but we won't know for sure until he develops more.

He can never be left alone as he relies on a feeding tube, and needs oxygen when he is sleeping. However he is due to have a gastric peg fitted.

"I know people always say their babies are good, but Maddison is so good," said Antonia. "You would barely know he's even in the house.
"He's just happy and contented. We call him our wee fighter, and he's fought so hard."

Antonia's been told it's unlikely she will carry her second baby to full term and doctors are keeping a close eye to monitor her progress.
"I never thought I'd be so lucky to have another baby. And it couldn't have come at a better time for us. With a brother or sister for Maddison, we know he'll always have someone.

"The baby is due on New Year's Day, we couldn't be happier."