When Rebecca Cant sank into a diabetic coma, her organs began to fail, her system started to shut down and her distraught parents were told to prepare for the worst.
She spent days in the intensive care unit at Sheffield children's hospital, with her mum and dad Jill and Barry willing her to cling on to life and defy the odds.
Amazingly the 13-year-old did just that and now eight months later she has made an almost complete recovery and has just returned from the holiday of a lifetime.
Rebecca has been swimming with dolphins and enjoying theme park rides and attractions in Florida after being chosen by the children's charity Dream Flights because of the inspirational way she fought for life.
She says the undoubted highlight of the holiday was her visit to Discovery Cove where she swam with her new best friend- Rascal the dolphin, an experience she says she will never ever forget.
"He was such a lovely dolphin, I never thought I would get to do something like that and it was very special," she said.
Her mum Jill at the family home in Back Poplar Terrace, Royston, said: "When I think about how terribly ill she was and how bleak the prognosis was, it's like the worst nightmare in the world.
"One minute she was fine and then suddenly it was touch and go whether she would even survive, they said the best odds were 50/50.
"We were told to prepare for the worst, we have since been told she was the most severe case they had seen where the patient actually survived.
"I can't explain what it was that enabled her to pull through and fight her way back to health. She's a quiet girl, but obviously very very determined and obviously not only do we love her very much but we are very very proud of her.
"I look at her every day and almost can't believe how lucky we are that she is still here and getting stronger and fitter every day."
Rebecca, who was nominated for the dream flight trip by the doctors who treated her, said: "It was an amazing holiday."
