Abby's daughter Camilla has endured five open heart surgeries before her 5th birthday

From the moment she felt her kick in the womb, Abby Colless knew her baby girl Camilla would be a fighter.

The now four-year-old was a miracle birth for Abby and her husband Chad, after their elder daughter Angelina was born sleeping.

Camilla was diagnosed with a congenital heart disease called Hypoplastic left heart syndrome while still in the womb, and doctors told the NSW mum to prepare for the worst.

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"When we found out we were pregnant with Camilla, to be honest, we were really scared. It was very, very high risk," Abby tells 9Honey.

"We found out at about 14 weeks she had a pretty serious congenital heart defect. The obstetrician said in his 30 years of delivering babies, he'd never seen a child with this condition survive."

Despite knowing Camilla's chance of survival was slim, Abby and Chad wanted to give their unborn baby girl a fighting chance at life.

"I didn't want to terminate and I also didn't want to go through what happened with Angelina all over again," Abby said. "Chad was afraid... he didn't want me to die."

At 30 weeks, the mother-of-five was admitted to hospital in Sydney and stayed there until giving birth.

Incredibly, baby Camilla had made it — she was out into the world, breathing and alive.

But at just minutes old, the newborn needed open heart surgery.

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"As soon as she was born, she went into surgery, which had complications," Abby explains.

"She had an arterial septostomy first and a second one, 12 hours later, which was pulmonary artery banding."

Camilla was less than a day old and already had endured two surgeries on her tiny, broken heart.

"She'd cry and scream a little before each surgery, but then she'd be okay, almost like she knew she had no choice," Abby remembers tearfully.

Then, two weeks later, the newborn needed to go under the knife again for a Norwood Sano procedure, which is the first part of a three-stage heart surgery to fix patients with Camilla's heart defect.

Abby says it was devastating to watch her girl suffer so much in her short life, but knew Camilla was going to pull through.

"She is so beautiful and was so strong, I felt so sad that this was the only life she'd known so far," Abby says.

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At three months old, Camilla was wheeled into surgery for her third heart operation.

A few months later, she was strong enough to go home to her four doting siblings Jaedyn, 15, Charlie, 14, Tyler, 13, and seven-year-old Kallie for the first time.

As she grew into a playful, determined little toddler, Abby thought the worst of it was over.

But when Abby was just four, she needed her fifth and final open heart surgery. Hopefully, it would be her last one for a long time.

"The whole thing amazed me… what the doctors could do," Abby says.

"And it amazes me that she had gone through so many heart surgeries and still be alive and okay."

Living in Walgett, NSW — 700km away from Sydney and three hours from the nearest main hospital — Abby and her family struggled to keep up with Camilla's cardiology appointments.

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And after Camilla was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, they needed help more than ever.

Then, the incredible team at Little Wings stepped in.

Abby and Camilla were offered free-of-charge flights on a private plane to Sydney thanks to the generous help of donors.

"I was always a little bit scared to ask for help, but that long car journey just became too much… we couldn't do it so regularly and Chad couldn't take time off work," Abby says.

"It has taken the pressure off it all more than I can so. I can't thank Little Wings enough for everything they have done for us. Living rural, it is just so hard to get to Sydney so often for Camilla's appointments.

"Everything is taken care of, and it takes away a little bit of stress from really traumatising stuff. It's a godsend."

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Camilla is about to turn 5 in April and is hoping to start school in 2022, which will finally be a taste of normal life for the brave little heart patient.

Excited for school, the proud mum says Camilla even packs her Emma Wiggle backpack in the mornings and tries to follow her siblings.

Her daughter Camilla is sassy, bossy and full of love for her siblings – as well as her favourite cartoon, Bluey.

"She's tough," she says proudly. "Things probably won't ever be fully normal for her, but we're fighting to give her the life she deserves."