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A Lancashire father had a lucky break when a bookie's clerk identified his daughter was suffering from a potentially deadly illness.
Nine-week-old Amelia Grace Parsisson could have died if William Hill counter clerk Vicky Leonard had not diagnosed her symptoms.
Amelia had suffered from pyloric stenosis - a stomach condition that can prove fatal for babies.
Her father Mark Parsisson recounted how little Amelia was being treated for gastric reflux without success at a hospital in Bolton.
Sales manager Mark, 42, said: "Amelia would never settle. Every time we picked her up she would wince because she was in pain.
"She was also suffering from severe projectile vomiting and it was very distressing for her and for us."
The sales manager, who lives with his wife Jane and son Jake, eight, in Whitland Ave, Bolton.
He placing a bet at a William Hill branch told cashiers about the problems his new-born daughter was having.
Vicky, has a daughter now aged 11, who suffered from similar condition as a baby and she explained the symptoms.
Vicky wrote down the name of the illness down on a betting slip.
Mark looked-up the symptoms on the internet and when Amelia later vomited blood he and his wife made a 45-minute dash by car to Manchester Royal Infirmary.
He demanded an ultrasound scan and that showed Amelia was suffering from pyloric stenosis.
She underwent a 40-minute operation to correct the condition two days later.
Mark added: "When we were at the hospital there was another child there who had the same condition that another hospital had failed to diagnose.
"After the operation Amelia was a different baby and she has made a complete recovery.
"I want to warn parents not to be brow-beaten by doctors who tell them they are are over-concerned.
"If Amelia had not got the right treatment at when she did she could have died."
Mark has launched a legal action for damages against the Royal Bolton Hospital, claiming that Amelia’s condition was misdiagnosed by doctors there.
Amelia's condition affects around one in every 350 babies and occurs when the opening between the stomach and the small intestine narrows.
A Royal Bolton Hospital spokesman said: "Babies who have pyloric stenosis and need urgent treatment are usually dehydrated and are losing weight as well as having projectile vomiting.
"If a baby is only displaying vomiting without being dehydrated and losing weight this is more likely to be a different diagnosis such as gastric reflux which needs medication and GP review in a couple of weeks or earlier if the baby's condition deteriorates.
"The treatment offered to Amelia and her parents was in line with this.
"We're very sorry if Mr Parsisson feels that staff did not explain this to him fully and also that he did not feel they were taking his concerns seriously.
"If he would like to contact us directly we will be happy to discuss all of this with him.
"Meanwhile we're pleased to hear that little Amelia is well and hope she continues to make good progress."
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