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Little Caitlin Rose-Faber had the worst possible start in life when she had stroke while still inside the womb.
Parents Gary and Olivia were given the heartbreaking news after a routine scan 32 weeks into the pregnancy.
Mr Faber, of Quinnell Street, Rainham, described the moment as life-changing.
He said: “It was devastating. We were given the option of a termination.
"Doctors were unable to tell us how it would affect Caitlin so we had a huge decision to make. But looking back now, we know we made the right one.”
Caitlin was born on October 1, 2007.
The stoke left her disabled, with weakness in her right side, and partially sighted - but the biggest problem was epilepsy which developed when she was six months old.
As a toddler she suffered from eye seizures – at its worst she would have them up to four times an hour.
Mr Faber said: “Caitlin would go vacant. It would last from 30 seconds to a minute. It completely held back her development.”
Last year, Caitlin underwent major surgery at King’s College Hospital in London to disconnect half her brain. The operation has cured her epilepsy and stopped her having seizures.
Mr Faber said: “Caitlin has come on leaps and bounds. It is fantastic.
“She is doing so well. Her speech has really improved and on the social side of things she is doing brilliantly.”
He added: “Caitlin still has weakness on her right side and she can’t use that hand but she has learnt to live with it. She is a bubbly, very happy little girl and she just gets on with things.”
"She is a bubbly, very happy little girl and she just gets on with things” - Gary Rose-Faber
Now Mr Faber, 30, who is also dad to Finlay, 21 months, wants to give something back by running the London Marathon for neurological charity MS-UK.
He signed up for the run last April and has been training since September.
The physio assistant, who works at Darent Valley Hospital, Dartford, has always liked to keep fit but admits the marathon is going to be a challenge.
He said: “I turned 30 in January and I wanted to push myself. It is going to be tough but it is not a lot compared to what Caitlin has been through.”
