A WOMAN who survived against the odds as a baby is celebrating reaching 70 years of age at the same time as the NHS.

Liz Eileen Lamb, of Barry, was born on May 27, 1948.

Her brother, Peter O’Sullivan said: “Our mother had a fall when she was carrying Liz, and Liz was born prematurely. Liz was born with cerebral palsy weighing in at a tiny two pounds in weight.

“She wasn’t expected to live and remarkably, this year Liz is celebrating her 70th birthday.”

Mrs Lamb is independent, thanks to the support of the NHS Wales, social services, the Vale council and others.

When her husband died in 2015, Mrs Lamb returned to Barry where she now lives in Golau Caredig extra care accommodation.

Mrs Lamb said: “The NHS has been my life. When I was born I was only two pounds and I lost lots of weight as a tiny baby. I was in an incubator for three months. It wasn’t until I was three-months-old they knew that there was something wrong with me.

“When I was 12 I was the first person in Britain to have my legs straightened; after the operation I spent eight months there. The surgeon straightened my legs which was a success. They had to do one leg at time and I was in plaster for months.

“The doctors and nurses got me up and walking, where they then found out I was knock kneed which meant they had to operate again. They got me up walking with crutches at the age of 13 until I was about 60.

“I’ve always been wheelchair bound but the surgery on my legs has helped to get me up on my legs to move around.

“My experience of the NHS has always been wonderful, they have always been absolutely brilliant.

“I’m extremely thankful to my surgeon Dillwyn Evans who did the first operation on my legs, which enabled me to be mobile, I will always feel grateful for that.

“The independence I was given, enabling me to get around meant that I was able to leave home when I was 18 to go to a training centre in London for nine months where I learnt to do light engineering.

“I was able to have a job and a career, I went to work in Birmingham for 28 years in a factory.

“I will always be grateful to the NHS for the care they gave me and enabled me to live my life to its fullest.”