His mother Bryeny was on a holiday in Cairns with his father Tom when her waters broke.

With an abundance of caution, the Warrnambool couple flew back home to be closer to family. Bryeny spent three weeks at the Royal Women’s Hospital before Patrick was born.

“During those weeks, it was just a matter of checking myself for observations for any sort of signs of labour or any sort of signs of infection,” she said.

“I was extremely stressed, worried, scared, concerned.”

“We had zero expectations of what to expect during birth as we didn’t have the opportunity to do birthing classes.”

“We also didn’t know that a baby could survive so prematurely, so when my waters first broke at 23 weeks we thought that meant we would lose our baby.”

On October 30 last year, Patrick was welcomed into the world, weighing a tiny 793 grams.

But Bryeny only held him for about 30 seconds before he was whisked away to the neonatal intensive care unit where he was intubated. Baby Patrick was struggling to breathe.

“That was surreal, seeing him in [the NICU], so small,” Tom said.

“He was the size of a block of butter.”

After three days, the pair were able to hold their son again.

“Lifting him up almost felt like there was nothing there,” Bryeny said.

“He was literally skin and bones. He was so fragile.”

Patrick spent the next three months in hospital “kicking goals”.

“He was just hitting every milestone,” Tom said.

“He came off the breathing support and then began breastfeeding.

“Everyone was really surprised at how well he was doing.”

Patrick was due to go home on the week of January 27 but took a turn for the worst.

He was found blue in his cot after suffering from a cardiac arrest.

“I heard nurses working on him saying they needed to intubate him,” Bryeny said.

“It was extremely confronting because in my head, I knew intubating him was the worst case scenario for breathing support.

“I just knew we were taking this massive step backward.”

Soon after, Patrick had another episode.

“Just seeing your baby limp and someone doing the compressions on his chest, I felt helpless,” Bryeny said.

“Sitting in the background not being able to do anything to actually help him was extremely shocking.”

“They tried to run every single test they could, trying to work out what exactly had happened, and every consultant we spoke to was puzzled and gobsmacked.”

Patrick’s heart rate repeatedly dipped to 60 beats per minute after the cardiac arrests.

He was transferred to The Royal Children’s Hospital where he was diagnosed with bronchial malacia, a condition characterised by floppy cartilage in the bronchial walls, causing the airways to collapse.

After several weeks under close monitoring, Patrick was finally able to go home on Monday.

“Our journey hasn’t been easy. It’s been filled with fear, uncertainty, tears and moments where we didn’t know how we’d get through,” Bryeny said.

“But it’s also shown us strength we didn’t know we had, and just how much love can carry you through even the darkest days.

“We get to close this chapter and start a new one at home, together as a family.”

Patrick’s goal is to grow and strengthen his lungs.

Bryeny and Tom said no words could describe how grateful they were for The Royal Children’s Hospital.

“The care, compassion and dedication they showed our little family will stay with us forever,” Bryeny said.

“They didn’t just look after our baby, they held us up when we needed it most.”

“To everyone who supported us, checked in, sent messages, and kept us in your thoughts, thank you. It meant more than you’ll ever know.”

“We’re heading home with full hearts, a whole new perspective, and so much gratitude.”