Dad drives six hours to meet premature baby boy on his first Father's Day
A premature baby boy is spending his first Father's Day in the arms of his adoring dad, who drives six hours each way to meet him.
Little Jack Macfarlane, born on May 29 this year and weighing less than a tub of butter at 472 grams, is one of the smallest babies born at Mater Mothers' Hospital in South Brisbane this year.
His family lives in the outback town of Roma, located 500km from Brisbane, with now father-of-four John Macfarlane driving six hours each way every week to visit his little one who was born 13 weeks premature.
Watch the video above.
John drives six hours to be with his premature son. Supplied
The family is so proud of baby Jack. Weekend Today
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This week's visit is all the more special, with the dad excited to embrace his "absolute blessing" of a son on his first-ever Father's Day.
"Seeing the next generation, it just makes me melt really," John, 59, said in an appearance on Weekend Today this morning.
"He's just amazing. He's fought through so much [as well as] my beautiful wife. It's just amazing."
John's wife Bridgette, 32, was diagnosed with pre-eclampsia, a serious pregnancy condition that causes high blood pressure, which led to her youngest son's arrival 13 weeks early.
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Jack weighed less than a tub of butter at birth. Supplied
"The blood flow through the umbilical cord to different parts of Jack's body was decreasing – so the decision to deliver him was made by the doctors at Mater," she said.
"After I was transferred from another hospital to Mater, I was monitored as an inpatient for two weeks with daily scans for a week before his birth."
The doctors originally only gave him a 50 per cent chance of survival due to being born so small, with the little boy also suffering chronic neonatal lung disease.
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He is now a healthier 2.47kg. Weekend Today
But in the months since his arrival, Jack has grown from 472 grams to now weighing 2.47 kilograms.
Bridgette described Jack as a "very strong and determined little boy".
"We are so proud of how far he has come and all the little hurdles he has had to overcome to get to where he is today," she said.
The mum, who has been staying close to the hospital at Ronald McDonald House, says she is looking forward to spending Father's Day with "her boys".