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LIVERPOOL wonder baby Ashleigh has started nursery.

The three-year-old has completed her first two weeks at Stockton Wood primary school in Speke after defying warnings by doctors.

Parents Alison Mulvaney and Daniel Richardford almost made the ultimate sacrifice to save total strangers from a fire while Alison was pregnant with Ashleigh.

Doctors warned the couple their baby might be permanently physically and mentally disabled after her traumatic birth.

But the little girl has defied the odds and is developing well.

Her speech will be perfected by a therapist and the youngster may need physiotherapy on her knee. But she has been given a clean bill of health by Alder Hey children’s hospital.

Ms Mulvaney, 38, said: “Ashleigh is really healthy and we are chuffed to bits that she has started nursery.

“She started two weeks ago and was a little tearful at first, but she has made some little friends and she loves nursery now.”

Ashleigh idolises her nine-year-old brother Josh and is delighted to be going to school just like him.

The couple’s bravery earned them the 2006 Mersey Marvel title.

Ms Mulvaney, eight-and-a-half months pregnant, was on her way home when she and Mr Richardford saw a fire, started by vandals, threatening a row of houses in Queens Drive, Childwall.

The couple raced from their car to raise the alarm. Mr Richardford, 35, braved choking smoke to hammer on residents' homes and help people to safety.

More than six people said they owed their lives to the couple. But immediately afterwards, Ms Mulvaney collapsed.

She was taken to hospital, where she needed surgery for a ruptured artery in her spleen and baby Ashleigh had to be delivered.

The arsonists responsible for the fire on March 21, 2005, have never been caught despite a £10,000 reward.