Why this brave '˜X-man' travels 1,300 MILES to Sheffield for hospital treatment every year

Eva travels 1,300 miles with her family from Belfast to Sheffield Children's Hospital every twelve weeks for treatment on a rare disease. 

The youngster was born with Osteogenesis imperfecta type 3, a congentinal condition also known as '˜brittle bones'. 

Her condition meant that her bones were so fragile that even a simple act such as sneezing could result in broken bones. 

As a result, the brave youngster flies over from Belfast to visit the hospital's specialist bone medicine service with her mum and dad for three days of treatment every twelve weeks. 

Her parents, who were only able to hold her for the first time when she was six-weeks-old, said there was only a one in 10,000 chance of the condition developing during pregnancy. 

Her mum said: ''It was unknown before we came here. People were so frightened because Eva's condition was so severe. The team at Sheffield Children's are really superb, they taught us how to manage it. This is the best place to come; it's where the experts are.

'Eva is like an X-man, there was a 1 in 10,000 chance of this mutation happening during pregnancy. There was no history of it in the family.'

Sheffield Children's Hospital said that over the years Eva has has had surgery to fit rods in her legs and that they're looking forward to seeing her again.