A Wiltshire mum was left "shocked" when her disabled daughter took her first steps at the age of 18 - after being told she'd never walk.
Karen Tilley, 43, from Westbury, was told her daughter, Josselin, would spend most of her life at home or in a hospice, and may never read, talk or walk.
She was born with CHARGE syndrome - a rare genetic condition that causes a wide range of birth defects.
Karen noticed Josselin was missing "all" her baby milestones - and a doctor referred her to a geneticist, who diagnosed her with CHARGE after a blood test when she was three months old.
Doctors warned Karen that Josselin may "never" be able to walk, talk or read.
But at the age of 18, Karen was stunned to see Josselin standing independently, walking with an InnoWalk aid and playing an interactive iPad game.
Karen, a housekeeper, said: "Doctors told Josselin she may never be able to stand up independently or take her first steps - but she’s still achieving these things now.
"Josselin was delivered via an emergency c-section - but I was told she was developing normally other than that.
"Then, she started not meeting her milestones.
"She didn’t learn to sit up, roll or babble - and she was floppy like a newborn.
"I knew something must be wrong."
Karen was 39 weeks pregnant when she was told during a routine check-up on March 22, 2006 that Josselin needed to be delivered.
She was told Josselin had a slow heartbeat - so she was rushed to hospital in Bath in an ambulance to give birth so the tot could have CPR.
At a routine six-week vaccine, Karen realised Josselin hadn’t reached the first milestones typical for a six-week-old baby - including focusing her eyes, holding her head up or smiling.
The tot also failed her newborn hearing test at just three weeks old - and was diagnosed as profoundly deaf.
Doctors noticed she had a condition called coloboma - which means some of the tissue that makes up her eyes are missing.
At three months old, Karen took Josselin to a geneticist at RUH Bath, who administered a series of blood tests.
Three months later, she received a letter stating Josselin had a genetic malformation - and a diagnosis of CHARGE syndrome.
Josselin has a number of complications, including needing a ventilator to breathe at night, as well as a pacemaker and a wheelchair. She can’t read, write or speak and her vision is significantly impaired, as well as her hearing.
But just weeks ago, she managed to confidently stand up herself, for the first time.
“We’d just turned up for our session at Gympanzees - a disability support organisation in Bristol,” Karen said. “Josselin was playing with the lights in one of the end rooms.
“My son, Dalton, 12, was playing pool on the interactive TV. Josselin went over and put her head on it.
“Before we knew it, she was undoing her own strap on her wheelchair, pulled herself up and stood to look at it.
“I was stunned - she does do physiotherapy with standing frames - but she pulled herself up.
“She seemed really steady on her feet, watching the pool ball move.
“The service also provides a machine called an InnoWalk - enabling her to walk by herself. She’s never done anything like that before.”
Karen added: “The plan is for Josselin to do more travelling,” she said. “She’s even been indoor skydiving.
“She loves the US - we’ve been to Orlando, Phoenix and Dallas, so far.”
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