Marathon thank-you from Natalie's dad

Natalie Anderson, pictured with father Paul, was saved by the neurological team at the Starship children's hospital. Photo / Nick Reed

They saved his baby's life - and now he's running a marathon to thank them.

Paul Anderson's daughter Natalie is battling a brain tumour, and in the seven months since her birth has spent a lot of time in the Starship.

Had it not been for the children's hospital neurological team, a mystery illness that Natalie was suffering might never have been picked up.

Mr Anderson was so grateful for their life-saving treatment that he decided to run the Auckland Marathon in November so he could raise money for the Starship as a thank-you.

"I just want to be able to thank them for all their help and everything they've done for her. Without them, she probably wouldn't be here."

For the first three months of her life, Natalie was a happy baby. But then she started to get grizzly and eat less. Then came the vomiting.

Mother Shelly took her to the doctors twice but both times was told Natalie was "going through a phase" and, on the second visit, that she was on a food strike.

"I thought that was weird, what would she be protesting against?" Mrs Anderson said.

After a few days, her feeding dropped from 600ml a day to 80ml. Fed up with getting no help, Mrs Anderson took Natalie to West Auckland's Waitakere Hospital, where she was immediately put on a drip.

She says Natalie was dubbed "the mystery baby" for the first couple of days, then a lumbar puncture showed she had protein levels about five times higher than normal in her spine.

The Starship's neurological team learned of Natalie's case and asked that she be transferred there for an MRI. A large tumour was revealed.

"I saw the picture [of the tumour] and I was hysterical," Mrs Anderson said. "It was about a third of the size of her head. It was very obvious. When you were looking at the MRI you weren't, like, what is it? ... It was a massive black mass in her head. It was quite round."

The Starship team successfully removed the tumour, but the nightmare wasn't over for the family.

Natalie then got meningitis in her blood and began having seizures.

"They were so scary to watch," Mrs Anderson said. "She had one that lasted 13 minutes, it was crazy and she went blue ... because she couldn't breathe. It was so horrible."

After about six weeks in hospital, Natalie was finally sent home. She has since gone back to her normal, chirpy self again, Mrs Anderson said.

Natalie still had a "really scary long road ahead", she said, as medical staff had discovered some "suspicious-looking cells" in the tumour so she would need to have MRI scans every six months until she was about 5 or 6 years old.

"You'd never know, looking at her. She's got the scar on her head but her hair's growing back and everything. You wouldn't know - she's such a happy cool baby."

Before the surgery, the Starship staff had prepared the Andersons for the worst, saying there was an 80 per cent chance something would go wrong and 20 per cent chance Natalie could die.

"She had to have physical therapy afterwards just to check that her limbs were doing what they should."

When she's older, there's still a chance Natalie might have peripheral vision problems, a learning disability or behavioral issues, her mother said. "That's something we'd watch out for but it may not happen."

Mrs Anderson said the family wanted to give something back to the Starship to ensure the facilities were available to people for years to come.

To donate, visit: fundraiseonline.co.nz/PaulAnderson