It’s hard to believe the eight-month-old has spent his whole young life fighting to survive.

Born at just 24 weeks, he quickly earned the nickname of Levi the Lion.

The little warrior was dealt health blow after blow during the first four months of his life.

“It was probably a good four times that we were sort of told in the early days to prepare to say goodbye,” mum Tegan Wain said of her and partner Rod Atkinson’s fears.

But thanks to a dedicated team of medical specialists and equipment donated by the Humpty Dumpty Foundation. little Levihas continued to shine bright on all around him.

Tegan and Rod weren’t expecting their visit to Royal Darwin Hospital for a follow-up appointment at 23 weeks pregnant to end with her giving birth just five days later.

But after discovering she had a short cervix during a check up at 19 weeks, Tegan was kept under close examination.

An ultrasound in June 2022 found she was two centimetres dilated.

From there Tegan says her welcome into motherhood happened very fast.

Levi was rushed to NICU, Rod followed closely behind and Tegan was left waiting in theatre, with the only updates on her newly-born baby coming through pictures Rod was taking on his phone.

“The hardest part for me as an expecting mum was having all these things that you like can’t wait for and to not even be able to hold your baby — you don’t get that first skin-to-skin contact,” Tegan said.

It didn’t get any easier from there, with the young family in wait and see mode for the next four months.

“After the first four days Levi gained a skin infection and then that got pretty dicey,“ Rod said.

“Everything’s very fragile (for a premature baby).

“They’re susceptible to a lot of infections and so early on he was placed in the incubator and the humidifier and kept under lock and key, so to speak.”

While the skin infection healed, Levi soon had to go under the knife for an exploratory surgery after perforating his bowel not once but twice.

It was that procedure, watched over by a doctor in Brisbane via Zoom, that gave doctors time to formulate a plan on how to best get Levi through the worst of his health battles.

And medical professionals told Rod and Tegan his best fighting chance might be to head interstate, but first they had to get through the flight.

“It was a case of stay and potentially not have the resources to keep him alive or go and potentially not survive the flight. But we both had always wanted what was best for him,” Tegan said.

“And apart from the plane ride being in Brisbane was what was best to him.”

Loaded into a travel cot donated by the Humpty Dumpty Foundation and with the financial backing from a GoFundMe ensuring both parents didn’t have to worry about work or bills, the Atkinsons travelled to Brisbane’s Mater Mother’s Hospital.

His time spent in Queensland ultimately saved his life, although his doting parents say his determination meant he wouldn’t have had it any other way.

“I don’t think in any of those time where we were told you need to say goodbye we ever resigned ourselves to this,” Tegan said.

“It was always he’s got this, and that was our motto for so long — You could see his fight and his determination.”

His incredible fight for survival did surprise some people upon their arrival back in the NT.

“When we got back to Darwin there was quite a few specialist doctors that were shocked to see him,” Tegan said.

“He has blown us away.”

Though his health issues still remain, Tegan says they haven’t stopped him.

“He’s got barriers and barriers that have come from him being so premature,” she said.

“We have found out recently that he had a hearing impairment — it has turned out that he’s got severe if not profound deafness.”

Levi is also attached to a feeding tube and oxygen tank following complications with his bowels and lungs.

He is showing early signs of cerebral palsy.

“But he is full of life, and he can sometimes be full of attitude, but it’s the cutest attitude,” Tegan said.

“Naturally he’s a pretty happy baby.”

According to the latest available data, about 10 per cent of babies born in the Northern Territory were considered preterm.

The rate of Aboriginal mothers giving birth to premature babies was twice that of non-Aboriginal mothers at 16 per cent.

Most of these babies born before 37 weeks gestation will require some sort of medical intervention to survive.

For babies born in the Northern Territory this often means travelling to receive the care needed.
Which is where organisations like the Humpty Dumpty Foundation are vital.

By providing equipment to hospitals the foundation are able to help about 20,000 children in Australia on any given day.

Children like Levi.

“The travel cot that he was in to get to Brisbane, the ventilator, the heart rate monitors were fully donated by Humpty Dumpty foundation,” Tegan said.

“They are hugely important, especially up here.”

Humpty Dumpty founder Paul Francis said the charity relied heavily on donations and fundraising events to pay for the lifesaving equipment.

“To date in the Northern Territory alone, the Humpty Dumpty Foundation has provided over 670 pieces of medical equipment valued at $6.5 million,” he said.

“Donations come from the generosity of corporate organisations and individuals who make up Humpty’s family.”

Just like those first few months of his life, his parents will be there to support Levi in the fight against any future health challenges that may come his way.

But both Tegan and Rod said they in turn were hugely supported by loved ones and the structures around them.

“To be honest I think that if we didn’t have those pieces of equipment, we wouldn’t be sitting here having this conversation — I think, goes under appreciated in the sense that we didn’t know it existed until we had to go through it ourselves,” Rod said.

“To everyone who played a role in getting in to where he is now thank you is an understatement.

“It’s been a bumpy eight months, but it’s all been for him,” he says while looking into his son’s beaming face.

For mum, it’s about being able to celebrate the small things.

“Having a baby born at 740 grams and being the size of a bottle of coke, apart from that being ridiculously scary, (it means that) when he does reach a kilo or two kilos or finally reaches full feeds, it’s the small things that you’re most grateful for.”