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Few could have predicted a life beyond a hospital ward for a baby who suffered such violent abuse at the hands of his parents his legs had to be amputated.
Tony Hudgell's legs were brutally snapped before a bout of sepsis landed the then 41-day-old tot at death’s door.
That was in late 2014. His mother Jody Simpson, 24, and father, Tony Smith, 47, lived with him in a squalid flat in Square Hill Road, Maidstone.
It emerged during this year’s Crown Court trial the baby suffered eight fractures and developed life threatening septicaemia.
But his parents delayed taking him to a doctor claiming they were waiting for a plumber to fix a boiler.
Tony is now thriving with a loving family who fought long and hard for justice following the Crown Prosecution Service’s initial decision not to prosecute his birth parents.
Adoptive mum Paula Hudgell juggled her role as his foster carer with playing detective, carefully documenting the moments she came face-to-face with the monsters behind the heartbreaking abuse.
Before her adoption was confirmed in March 2016 she was not allowed to know the full extent of what had happened.
Simpson and Smith, who later moved to Whitstable, were allowed to visit.
“It was really hard handing him over two hours a day, three days a week for seven months,” Mrs Hudgell said.
“Every night after contact he would have night terrors and he would be screaming.
"If you had him a few days without contact he was settled again.”
The 50-year-old, from Kings Hill, never envisaged adopting any child let alone a disabled baby.
It was some time after the abuse when Tony lost both of his legs.
But her hard work and determination saw her son’s biological parents jailed for 10 years each.
Mrs Hudgell fostered Tony in 2015 following his hospital treatment and would get anxious each time she gave her soon-to-be son to his original parents during their contact period.
She said: “In the early days I was trying my best to be professional and was always polite.
“As far as Jody and Tony Snr were concerned that is all I was there to do.
“Tony wouldn’t make eye contact with Jody. He just couldn’t bear to look at her. He would turn his head so far into his car seat.
“Tony Snr was always polite. He would say to me 'thank you for looking after my boy. It was a terrible accident'.
“Tony would smile at him. That speaks volumes as far as I was concerned.”
It was only when she became Tony’s legal mother she was allowed to know details of the investigation and spent a year fighting for justice.
She added: “When you are a foster parent you have no legal right to anything.
"I contacted the police to find out what was happening with the case and I then found out the CPS weren’t going to charge which I was astounded with.
“Police had been asking for information, but there was a lot they hadn’t been told.
"Nobody appeared to be aware of Tony Smith saying it was an accident, which was a key turning point.”
Tony would often be retrieved by his new mum with his plaster casts pulled down and, on one occasion, a splint at the back of his leg was snapped.
Mrs Hudgell added: “Police hadn’t had any of this evidence so we went back to the CPS and that was when it came back with the neglect charge.
“I just wanted to show Tony I fought for him. Just like any of my own children, I would fight to the end of the earth for them.
“The other charge of causing and allowing serious harm was only added two months before the trial.
“Tony was seconds away from death. If it wasn’t for the brilliant NHS he would have been another statistic.”
The evidence helped the CPS change its mind and Tony’s birth parents were sentenced in February.
Last week young Tony left many TV viewers in tears when he snuggled up to Holly Willoughby as the Hudgells told their story on ITV’s This Morning.
Presenter Holly Willoughby told the family: “We think you’re amazing, because you didn’t give up, you spoke to your local MP you spoke to your police commissioner, your local detective.
“You kept going until you had all that evidence, all your ducks in a row to go back to the CPS and take those parents to court.”
Along with her husband Mark and the love and affection of their eight other children, baby Tony has transformed from a bruised and broken youngster into the loving and active toddler he is today.
Mrs Hudgell said: “He fitted in so well so quickly. We all fell in love with him.
“There were so many milestones doctors said he wouldn’t make.
"The hospital said they have never had a child with those injuries and infections survive" - Paula Hudgell
“He was so attached to us. He had an adoption medical and the doctor stated, not in a horrible way, ‘who is going to want to adopt this little boy?’
“It pulled at my heart strings when I read that.”
Now the three-year-old, who is set to start at Discovery School in Kings Hill next year, confidently boots a ball in the back garden of his Victoria Drive home and thrives in a sporting environment.
“Nothing is an obstacle now. He loves life. He is the happiest kid.
“He loves his sport and he is having private swimming lessons. He still does his tennis and he loves kicking a ball around with older kids.
"Hopefully when he is older he can play frame football.
“When I first saw him he was really shut down and his eyes were glazed over.
"He was still in so much pain, but we see this little boy always smiling. We weren’t able to part with him.
“He has got some sort of aura and charisma. He just sucks everyone in. You can’t help but love him.”
Tony captured the hearts of Kent Messenger readers and the rest of the country when his tale was told at Maidstone Crown Court.
Pictures shown to the jury of him with his new family were met with applause.
A fundraiser launched by the KM has almost reached £8,000 and Mrs Hudgell has kept cuttings of everything from the court case through to newspaper stories with her son’s face in for when he grows up.
“He may not want to see it but it will always be there if he wants to.”
“When he is old enough it is his choice. We have always said Tony is here for a reason.
"The hospital said they have never had a child with those injuries and infections survive. There is no other child like him.
“We want to show what a wonderful boy he is. You can adopt a disabled child and it can still be so much fun and you can fight for them.”
The Kent Safeguarding Children Board said Tony's case has been presented to a national panel of experts to determine if a new review is needed.
The board undertook a case review in 2015, producing a report in January 2016, which it does not have to make public and which Mrs Hudgell has not seen.
This was re-examined and it was found the 2016 report was proportionate.
