IT’S ten years since Emily Unwin was flown to Austria to learn how to eat.

These days, Emily is happy to munch most things and her favourite food is sushi.

It’s a sight her mother Louise feared she may never see.

Emily, previously known as Emily Harper, was born with a rare bone condition called Goldenhar syndrome, hip displacia and talipes. She also has a condition which affects the part of her brain which controls her balance, co-ordination and walking, as well as delayed development and scoliosis.

Louise had a normal pregnancy, and Emily weighed a healthy 6lbs 11oz when she was born in October 2006, but lost 10 oz causing doctors to fit a feeding tube when she was two days old. She spent three weeks in special care at Barnsley Hospital.

Emily could not suck or swallow, and survived on a high calorie milk formula fed through a tube in her nose.

Louise launched an appeal in the Chronicle to raise £10,000 to fly Emily to a specialist feeding clinic in Austria in 2008.

There, Emily underwent a variety of therapies and had a ‘play picnic’ every day. This was where different types of food with different smells and textures were laid out in front of Emily.

After pulling out her feeding tube, she eventually began to try them.

Louise, 37, of Windsor Avenue, Kexborough, said: “I wasn’t allowed to put her feeding tube back in and by that point, she’d not had her milk so she was hungry. Eventually, she started putting bits of food in her mouth. As the weeks went on I ended up buying baby jars.

“It was great to see her eating, it really was brilliant. That year she had her first taste of Christmas dinner.

“She’s been eating ever since, and she’s also got a lot stronger. Because she was only having milk she wasn’t getting a great deal of calories, and when she sat up she would fall backwards. After she got more calories, she started sitting up and didn’t need that support behind her.

“If we hadn’t have gone to Austria, the doctors said Emily might not have survived. She was so weak because she was just having milk and even though they don’t know what her life is going to be because she’s got so much going off, every milestone for us is just another happy thing.

“I think it has saved her life.”

Emily is now a 12-year-old girl who enjoys attending Greenacre School. She also likes playing on her iPad and with her sister Poppy, five. She still has more than her fair share of health problems, but is thriving.

Louise added: “Emily is so strong-willed, if she doesn’t want to do something then she won’t do it.

“She’s like any other 12-year-old physically. A lot of her speech is still baby-like, but people who are around her all the time can understand some of the words she is saying. Regarding her development, the doctors can’t find any reason why she has problems with her speech and development.

“Soon I’ll have a teenager. When I look back over the last ten years I feel proud that I’ve been able to help her get to where she is now. She even likes sushi. What 12-year-old likes sushi? It’s been really nice to see her eat things we thought she would never eat.”