His first teeth have made an appearance and he laughs heartily at nothing in particular.

But when Carnley was born he almost died, along with his mother.

“I was in labour for three days before Carnley was born and when he was delivered he wasn’t breathing,” Carnley’s mother, Sharnie Monkley, said.

“He came out purple and blue and his right arm was very, very limp, and that’s when the doctors realised he had had a stroke.

“About 10 minutes passed before Carnley [now aged one] actually breathed, and I nearly lost my life as well.”

The legacy of Carnley’s complicated birth is that he now has cerebral palsy.

“It has all been such a big shock,” Mrs Monkley, of Tenambit, said.

“I blamed myself and we went through a grieving stage because we knew life wasn’t going to be how we ­pictured it. 

“It was all going to be something ­different and we had to process that.

“But I really blamed myself because I was the one who carried him.”

More recently Mrs Monkley ­discovered she carried a gene that caused blood clotting and Carnley possesses the same gene.

“We’ve basically been warned not to have any more children because there is a high risk this will happen again and it’s not safe for me either,” Mrs Monkley, 33, said.

“Unfortunately, we had to go through all that to find this out.”

Mrs Monkley and husband Dale have organised an event to raise money for the Cerebral Palsy Alliance.

“At this point it’s hard to say exactly how Carnley will be, but he is just so happy, even after everything we’ve been through, nothing seems to bother him,” Mr Monkley, 31, said.

“This has hit me pretty hard because my understanding of cerebral palsy was someone in a wheelchair and I had pictured Carnley playing footy or soccer.

“But you just don’t know, we’re not sure what Carnley will be capable of yet.”

- The Cerebral Palsy Alliance fund-raiser will be held at Maitland City Bowls, Sports and Recreation Club on November 8. For more information visit the Carnley Taj Facebook page or email carnleytajfundraiser@hotmail.com