A BABY who has spent six months at a Newcastle hospital has returned home to celebrate his first birthday.

Jake Harris enjoyed a family party after he and his Joanne Long finally made it back to Egremont.

The pair have been at the RVI after Jake, who was born at 26 weeks, stopped breathing at the start of the year. Joanne had twice saved his life.

She said: “It is lovely to be able to celebrate Jake’s first birthday in our own home. It has been so hard being away from my fiance, Mark, my friends and family but they have all been so supportive.

“It has been a long year. However, while I was at Newcastle I got into a routine and I learned, by practising, how to care for Jake’s particular needs such as dealing with his gastrostomy and tracheotomy.”

Jake is currently unable to make crying sounds as his tracheotomy is below his voice box. However, Joanne communicates with him by reading his facial gestures.

“He is a very smiley baby,’’ she said. “He wakes me up in the morning by playing with his cot mobile.’’

The couple’s home is filled with specialist equipment, both upstairs and down, to care for Jake including a ventilator, a suction machine, a Sats monitor, a humidifier oxygen concentrator and oxygen bottles, a nebuliser to administer medicine, a feeding machine and an emergency trachostomy box.

Joanne said: “It can take us two hours to get ready to leave the house for a walk, and I can be sweating after putting all his equipment in the pram. However, it is just so good to be able to do normal things.

“I would like to thank all my family and friends for their birthday cards and presents to Jake.’’

A walk, organised by Mark’s colleagues from Cavendish Nuclear, is aiming to raise thousands of pounds for Crawford House which is where Joanne has been staying while Jake was in hospital.

Mark, as well as Joanne’s mum, Kath Long, took part in the walk last Friday which took in a route between Skiddaw, Scafell Pike and Helvellyn.

Adele Graham, who is a friend of the family, will also be doing a skydive next month to raise cash for the Sick Children’s Trust.