Little Forrest Crawford is a typical active and happy two-year-old, the picture of health.

But the youngster is only alive and well because doctors froze him for three days shortly after he was born.

When his mother Heidi gave birth at home, Forrest was not breathing, his body was limp and his skin was blue.

He was rushed to the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton but it took more than 30 minutes for medics to eventually get him breathing.

Doctors were worried about brain damage so used a pioneering cooling technique to give his system a chance to recover.

They deliberately dropped his temperature from a normal 37C to 33.5C, low enough to bring on hypothermia.

The procedure, which was inspired by trapped climbers' ability to survive freezing conditions, reduces the pressure on the brain, allowing it to recover from trauma.

After watching him closely for 72 hours, staff at the hospital's Trevor Mann baby unit felt the time was right to start warming Forrest up again.

Tests and an MRI scan showed his brain was functioning normally and he was able to go home after eight days.

He has never looked back since and now, aged 27 months, he is developing perfectly normally.

Mrs Crawford, 35, of Victoria Street, Brighton, said: “It was absolutely miraculous."

Read the full story in today's Argus.