A Kildare mother shared her inspirational story on The Last Word about her roller-coaster pregnancy and how her little boy survived against the odds.

Sirena Fox was experiencing a normal pregnancy with her second child until her 20 week scan, when a shadow was detected on the baby's lung which turned out to be a tumour.

At 23 weeks, Sirena's baby son Leo went into heart failure. This was because the tumour was compressing his heart and right lung, and was growing quicker than him. She and her husband were told there wasn't much hope for him: "It was a devastating time."

After getting a second opinion and being told there was nothing that could be done, Sirena's consultant accompanied her to Birmingham where doctors could perform a procedure called shunting. Sirena decided to try it as she felt she had nothing to lose and had to fight for Leo.

The procedure was successful initially and Leo came out of heart failure. At 28 weeks the shunting was repeated and his condition was monitored weekly.

As Leo's lungs were compromised, there was uncertainty about what would happen, and Sirena was told his lung function might be a problem once he was born.

Her waters broke while having a scan at 36 weeks, and she had a Caesarean section to deliver him. She says it was "very nerve-racking not knowing whether he was going to survive or not."

Things went well and Leo didn't need any help breathing. However, when he was ten days old, the tumour started to fill up with air, and he needed surgery.

The surgery went as well as could be expected, and Leo is now a healthy five-month-old.

Sirena says she has no anger at having to research Leo's condition herself: "I believe that if you want anything, nobody will fight for it as much as you."

To catch the full chat press the play button on the image on the top of the screen