Liam Cocker, 7, struggled to get to his feet unaided to flash his gummy smile at the camera, forever defying medical odds that wrongly predicted he was dead in his mother’s womb at six months.

His mother, Rachel, applauds him for the effort, pointing out that something in his right leg was stopping him from getting on his feet, and hoping that October’s trip to the UK will train Liam to walk unaided.

This is the latest challenge in a series of stumbling blocks the family faced when Ms Cocker was six months pregnant with Liam and his twin brother, Ethan.

“I was admitted to give birth by caesarean but was told that one of them, Liam, was dead, while the other baby was healthy. Three days later they heard Liam’s heartbeat and both were born prematurely. “Unfortunately, Ethan passed away three days later, while Liam remained stable. Two weeks on, he started having fits,” Ms Cocker says.

The following days were a confused blur for the 38-year-old mother. One day, the doctors told her and her husband, Duncan, 40, that the baby boy had contracted meningitis.

“For the second time we were told Liam might die, or be disabled for life. But my husband remained hopeful. He’d ask me, how come they said the boy won’t live, and yet, he is still feeding and growing? After several interventions and tests, we were told the infection was under control.

“This is Liam’s life story – we started from the very bottom but thank God, so far, we kept moving one step at a time,” his mother adds, as Liam crawls from one end of the room to the other, teasing his 11-year-old sister, Maia, who chose his name when he was born.

The two siblings have a very tight bond, and apart from playing and dancing together, Maia often reads Liam a book, or cooks him his favourite carbonara dish.

Despite the challenges of the past seven years, the Cocker family lives life “one step at a time”. Seen here, Maia, Kate and Liam (left to right) with parents Rachel and Duncan. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

The boy plants a long kiss on his older sister’s cheek as his father recalls being told his son would forever remain in a vegetative state. However, as soon as he was discharged from hospital at six months, the little boy started laughing and his first word was ‘Mia’, to call his sister.

Following another challenging operation on his brain in the UK when he was aged two, Liam’s eyesight improved.

Seeing their son’s feisty character and dogged determination to interact, his parents wanted to do all they could for the boy.

They sold the house and Liam, aged four, underwent Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy in the UK, which was partly-funded by the State. This is an operation that decreases spasticity in the lower limbs in cerebral palsy patients, which keeps them from walking and moving.

While in Malta the family found great support from Liam’s consultant Doriette Soler, and throughout the time they spent in the UK, they were supported by Maltese neurosurgeon Kristian Aquilina.

Little Liam, scared and weak, found support in his sister, the only one he smiled at following the operation. Two weeks later, to the delight of his parents and sister, Liam made his first three steps, aided by physiotherapists.

Three years on, following the arrival of 18-month-old Kate, and Liam’s Holy Communion, the next step for Liam to gain his independence is a two-week intensive physical programme for children who underwent the SDR operation.

“He manages to take three steps on his own, exercise on the treadmill and the walker while holding on, but of course, we’d like him to walk unaided.”

The specialised therapy will cost €6,000, and Puttinu Cares Foundation offered to help them but is not in a position to cover the full amount.

Those who would like to give Liam a leg up, his BOV account is 4002351757-2, or they can contact the family on rcocker@live.com.