A MIRACLE toddler was just seconds away from being put into a coma when he opened his eyes, punched the doctor in the face and yelled out “No!”.

Today, the parents of little Ted Drummond talk for the first time about their son’s remarkable survival story.

John and Sarah Drummond recall how “Super Ted”, now two, showed his amazing appetite for life as he fought back from the brink of death at Great Ormond Street Hospital.

Doctors were all set to put Ted, who was suffering from leukaemia and septicaemia, into a medically-induced coma when the feisty toddler showed he was not ready to die.

Now ten months on the lad continues his a miraculous recovery and has become such a symbol of hope that his parents are helping to launch a national charity to raise awareness of childhood cancer.

Distraught John and Sarah of Park Close, Wickford, were told the devastating news that Ted was unlikely to survive after he was rushed to the famous children’s hospital last April.

Tests revealed he was suffering from E.coli, which had led to septicaemia. He was already battling leukaemia which he was diagnosed with at just six months old.

John, 42, recalled: “We were in such a panic. The septicaemia was causing all of his organs to fail. He was so ill.

“I remember the crash team at hospital ringing intensive care and asking for an emergency room.

“They were told ‘there will be one free in 15 minutes’. I heard the doctor say ‘he doesn’t have 15 minutes!’ “I can’t explain the anguish we felt. It was horiffic.”

Ted continued to deteriorate and eventually doctors told the couple the best thing they could do for Ted was to put him into a clinical coma to alleviate his suffering.

John remembered: “They told us to kiss him on the forehead and to wait outside. They said to us ‘we don’t want you to watch this’.”

Sobbing and knowing their beloved son would probably never wake up, the distraught couple waited outside...then Super Ted kicked into gear and showed just why he has earned his nickname.

John said: “A minute later the doctor came out, knelt down on the floor and said ‘He’s a feisty little boy isn’t he. I was putting a tube in his nose and he opened his eyes, punched me in the face and shouted ‘no’.

“He said Ted had too much fight and character to be put into a coma, even though his prognosis was so bad.”

But Ted continued to defy the odds and fought back.

Today he is a cheerful little boy who is happiest when he’s playing with his bothers and sisters and watching In the Night Garden on television.

Ted featured in the Echo last year after we told how he was courageously battling leukaemia.

He received a Little Star award from the national charity Cancer Research UK because, despite years of gruelling treatment, he has continued to shine.

Ted has since had four cycles of intensive chemotherapy, including one which meant he had to stay in hospital for 71 days. He still has to have chemotherapy, but he is tackling the cancer head on.

Sarah, 35, who has three other children with John – Ethan, ten, Olivia, four, and Eleanor, four months old – added: “Ted’s personality and strength of character is what enables us as a family to cope with his illness.

“He lights up the day for all those who meet him and he has an ability to draw people close.

“Despite his age, he takes his medication and treatment with no fuss and has the ability to turn even that into a game or something to learn.”

John added: “Your story in the Echo last year called him Super Ted and that name has caught on. He really is Super Ted.

“We all love him so much. He’s a fighter that’s for sure.

“Everything we’ve been through has made me realise people can take away your possessions, your house and your job, but they can’t take away your family and your hope.

“More than anything we have learnt never to give up hope. Ted is living proof of that.”