CWMBRAN tot Amber Hartland was just 'hours from death' after she contracted a serious chest infection, her parents revealed last night.

The two-year-old was in hospital for a fortnight as doctors battled to keep her breathing after her lungs almost collapsed.

Amber, of St Dials, Cwmbran, suffers from rare genetic disorder infantile Tay Sachs which is a condition that prevents fatty molecules breaking down in her body.

It affects the nervous system and can lead to blindness, deafness and death at an age as young as four.

Her devoted parents Lesley and Nick Hartland were already facing an anxious wait for the results of tests to determine how long Amber will live when she developed a chest infection that almost killed her.

Dad Nick said the family was 'absolutely terrified'.

"It started with a bit of a cough so we took her to the Royal Gwent Hospital where she got much worse," he said.

"She couldn't breathe on her own after the bottom of her lungs suddenly collapsed. She didn't eat for days and we all thought she was going to die.

"The doctors and nurses didn't think much of her chances and we all prepared for the worst. She was just hours from death."

Doctors treating Amber's Tay Sachs have always told her parents she was most likely to die from a chest infection.

"It was a terrible time," said mum Lesley. "We really didn't think she was going to make it. But the doctors and nurses on Bluebell ward were fantastic, really hard working and helpful."

Then, as suddenly as she became ill, Amber's health improved and she started breathing on her own.

Now she is back home in St Dials, Cwmbran, but parents Nick and Lesley still have an anxious wait for the results of a brain scan to see how long their daughter will live.

"This is the worst time for us now," said Nick. "The tests will tell us whether the drugs have worked, or whether nature will take its course and Amber is going to die."

Massive fundraising efforts from people across Gwent allowed Nick and Lesley to buy experimental drug Zavesca to treat Amber's condition.

The course of treatment costs thousands of pounds a week - and within a few months of the Argus revealing Amber's condition, fundraising had topped £30,000.