As a healthy young first-time mum Melissa Fell couldn't wait to hold her new baby daughter.

But Melissa had just nine hours with her newborn Ruby before the baby was whisked nearly 100 miles away from her Carlisle home to Glasgow's Yorkhill Hospital.

Little Ruby had been born with a rare digestive problem called Tracheoesophageal Fistula (TEF) and needed emergency treatment.

However, the only hospital that could provide the care Ruby needed was Yorkhill, meaning Melissa and her partner Shaun Kenney, 25, were left behind without their newborn.

"It was horrific," Melissa said. "I had a healthy pregnancy and nothing had been picked up on my scans.

"You are prepared for a normal delivery and expect to go home that day with your baby – no-one tells you about the things that can go wrong.

"I had never heard of TEF before so Shaun and I were in the dark about what was going on."

TEF, which affects one in every 3500 babies, means the bottom end of a baby's oesophagus, or foodpipe, is joined to its windpipe, the trachea.

Without surgery this means the baby cannot swallow while air passes from the windpipe to the stomach and can allow stomach acid to pass into the lungs.

While ambulance staff made the 100-mile mercy dash to Glasgow with Ruby, Melissa's brother drove her north to be with her daughter.

At first she thought the family would be in Glasgow for two to three weeks but it was nearly seven months before Ruby could go home.

Melissa, 21, added: "To watch Ruby struggling in the high dependency unit was awful but we had a lot of support from the Yorkhill Children's Foundation.

"I stayed in Ronald McDonald House round the corner from Yorkhill and the staff from the Foundation were always there with help and advice."

Despite being allowed to go home, Ruby had to return to Glasgow every four weeks so her oesophagus could be stretched by surgeons.

When she was 15 months old the tot was diagnosed with cartilage rings around her oesophagus, which required even more treatment.

Then, during a monthly procedure to stretch her windpipe, it split in two, setting her recovery back even further.

The little fighter was then also diagnosed with an absess on her left lung.

The first time doctors tried to drain the abscess Ruby suffered septic shock and on the second attempt medics had to fit a drain into her lungs.

Caring for Ruby is a full-time job for Melissa and Shaun as she has to be fed by food pump and given regular medicines.

Now Ruby is two-and-a-half her family still travel to Yorkhill every four weeks so her oesophagus can be stretched.

Melissa added: "It has been a really tough time with Ruby. There have been times when we thought we would lose her and doctors can't give us any long-term outlook with Ruby as they don't know what will happen with her.

"I feel like Glasgow is a home-from-home now, though. I had never been before and now I know it like the back of my hand."

Little Ruby, who Melissa said copes extremely well with her hospital visits, also feels at home in Yorkhill.

Her mum said: "Every time we get to the ward Ruby shouts, 'I'm back'. She's one of the happiest toddlers you'd see.

"The only difference between Ruby and other toddlers is that she thinks she is a doctor. All her toys get check ups and have their temperature taken."

Now, to say thank you for the two years of support they have received, Melissa is backing the launch of Yorkhill Week.

The fundraising week, from September 17 to 25, launches today and aims to help raise awareness of the work the charity do.

Melissa said: "The Yorkhill Foundation have been really good with us. When Ruby was in the high dependency unit they arranged for me to go and have a massage. I don't think people realise the support they give parents as well as children.

"Ruby will probably be treated at Yorkhill until she is a teenager and, frankly, I wouldn't trust anywhere else to look after her.

"She's in the best hands at Yorkhill. They are amazing."

BBC weather forecaster – and new mum – Gail McGrane has also agreed to support Yorkhill Week

Gail added: "As a new mum, it means such a great deal to know that there is a charity dedicated to making a real difference to the experiences of sick children and their families during their time in hospital."