Jessica Kent-Hazledine, 33, woke up two weeks after giving birth to her son with little vision in her left eye.

She put that down to tiredness but then lost vision in her right eye, leaving her fearing "the worst".

But a year on, she said her sight is "so much better".

'I thought I'd never see my son again'

Ms Kent-Hazledine, from Cornwall, said: "I was a new mum, not getting much sleep.

"But I thought I should probably get it checked out, and the next thing I knew, I was having an urgent MRI and blood tests. It was all very scary; I was thinking the worst.

"When my vision went in my right eye, too, I was terrified – I thought I wouldn't be able to see my baby grow up.

"I wouldn't be able to see how his face changed or when he took his first steps or had his first day at school.

"I had been a mum for two weeks and was faced with the prospect of not being able to see my son again."

How her sight was restored

After trying out some other treatments, medics arranged for a plasma exchange for Ms Kent-Hazledine, which was carried out by a new service run by NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) in the South West.

In the procedure, a patient's plasma, the liquid component of blood that helps transport blood cells, nutrients and hormones around the body, is removed from the bloodstream and replaced with donor plasma.

This helped prevent the antibodies in her blood from attacking and damaging the protective layer around the nerve fibres in her eyes.

Overall, she had five exchanges but said things began to improve by the third.

Now she can see clearly out of her right eye and has around 75% sight in her left one.

'It felt like magic'

Ms Kent-Hazledine said: "By the fifth [exchange], I felt pretty much back to myself; it felt like magic.

"It's been almost a year now, and my sight is so much better. I still have some blurring in half of my left eye, but I can look after my son and live an independent life, which I was worried I wouldn't be able to."

Ms Kent-Hazledine was the first person in Cornwall to use the NHSBT's new therapeutic apheresis service (TAS), which is working with four hospitals in the region.

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She said she felt "so lucky" to have had the treatment and was grateful to those who donated blood and plasma – encouraging others to do the same.

"I don't think people realise just how much good donation can do – we all know blood can be used in emergencies, but it can also be used to help so many people like me," she said.

"I'd urge absolutely everybody who is eligible to go and give blood or plasma – and thank you to those who already do."

Sir Keir Starmer issued an ultimatum on Tuesday, saying the government would withdraw its offer of thousands of NHS jobs, extra training places, and pay reforms if the walkout wasn't called off within 48 hours.

With no agreement reached, the medics – formerly known as junior doctors – will strike for six days from 7 April.

The British Medical Association's (BMA) resident doctors' committee has maintained the government's pay rise offer does not go far enough to deal with the cost of living.

Sir Keir has pointed out the 3.5% proposal is above inflation and would take their total raise over three years to 35%.

Writing in The Times earlier this week, he said strikes would be "reckless" and damage the NHS.

But the committee's chair, Dr Jack Fletcher, said the government's approach was "extremely disappointing".

Using the offer of more training places as a "pawn" in negotiations was "simply wrong", he said.

"We have consistently maintained that we are willing to postpone industrial action should a genuinely credible offer be provided. This remains the case now, up to, and throughout any period of industrial action," he added.

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A Department of Health and Care spokesperson maintained the deal on offer was "generous".

"Because the BMA resident doctor committee has not agreed to call off these strikes and put an offer to members, we will now not be able to deliver the 1,000 extra training places which the BMA asked for," they said.

"These posts would have gone live this month, but as systems now need to prepare for strikes and more uncertainty, it simply won't be operationally or financially possible to launch these posts in April in time to recruit for this year.

"This won't impact the overall number of resident doctors, and the NHS will be there for patients when they need it."

They said attention must now turn towards protecting patients by minimising disruption during the walkout.

It will be the 15th round of strikes by resident doctors in England since 2023.

The former Little Mix star has campaigned for all newborn babies to be screened for the rare condition after her twins, Ocean Jade and Story Monroe Nelson, were diagnosed.

They were found to have the condition, which causes progressive muscle wastage, which Nelson says means they will probably never walk, after being born prematurely last year.

The 34-year-old launched a petition for more health checks for babies, appearing on Sky News to promote her campaign, and it reached 100,000 signatures.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting has now announced the checks will be rolled out as part of in-screening evaluations from this October, rather than January 2027.

These are used to test proposed screening programmes before they are adopted nationally.

In a letter to Nelson and Giles Lomax, the boss of the SMA UK charity, Mr Streeting said he was keen on a full rollout and promised to keep them updated.

Nelson, a patron of the charity, celebrated the news in a post on Instagram.

"I am so proud, as this is a major milestone for the SMA community," she said.

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Early treatment can help prevent some of the most devastating consequences of her twins' condition.

They have had a one-off infusion that puts a missing gene back into their body to stop other muscles from dying, however, they will not be able to regain any muscles that have already died.

Mr Lomax said his charity would continue to work towards a UK-wide rollout of SMA screening, adding: "No baby should be left behind based on where they live."

The warning at the National Education Union (NEU) conference in Brighton comes following claims a Salford school ordered dozens of classic titles be removed from shelves.

Index on Censorship reported in March that George Orwell's 1984 and Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series were among the more than 130 books targeted at the Lowry Academy in Greater Manchester.

It said the librarian had been "threatened with disciplinary action" and resigned.

The school denied books had been banned and had instead been moved into "age-appropriate categories".

"Following concerns that a number of books within the library were neither age nor content-appropriate, an audit was conducted," said a statement.

"Following this, books have been placed into age-appropriate categories and returned to the shelves. A very small number of books were deemed inappropriate even for older children due to their content and have been removed."

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But several delegates at the NEU's conference have spoken out about reports they've heard of books being removed from school shelves.

They have voted in favour of a motion calling on the union executive to oppose censorship.

Speaking in support of the motion, Laura Butterworth said: "I've heard many accounts from librarians in my district of them having to take art books off the shelves because they have historic paintings and sculptures of nudes."

Matthew Hobbs, from Luton, said he had also had to fight against efforts to remove books by LGBT+ authors.

And Kristabelle Williams, who proposed the motion, said schools must defend their collections to combat the rise of the far right, warning there is a likelihood of more "challenges and hate campaigns".

NEU general secretary Daniel Kebede said: "Any move to censor books in school libraries based on misinformation and fearmongering should ring alarm bells for all of us.

"The US and Hungary are examples of countries which have implemented book bans in schools, primarily targeting books by women, Black and LGBT+ authors, and the NEU is clear that this is not a path we are prepared to follow in the UK."

Laura Ann Aime, 17, went missing 51 years ago after she left a party alone. A month later, her body was found by hikers on the side of a highway in American Fork Canyon.

She was bound, beaten and without clothing.

Bundy had "verbally acknowledged" his culpability leading up to his execution in Florida in 1989 - but the case remained open until they could be certain.

US authorities decided to revisit Ms Aime's case by examining evidence from the scene to take advantage of the "evolution of criminal forensic science".

"Existing evidence was submitted to the Utah Bureau of Forensic Services so we could utilise the various forms of advanced forensic sciences and professionals," the sheriff's office said on Wednesday.

"The results were magnificent as they confirmed irrefutably that DNA evidence recovered from Laura's body verified the existence of DNA belonging to Bundy."

Bundy has been linked to at least 30 women and girls' deaths across several states in the 1970s, making him one of America's worst serial killers.

"In the days and hours leading to his execution, Bundy verbally acknowledged his culpability in the death/disappearance of Laura and others," the sheriff's office said.

"At the time of his admission, the Utah County Sheriff's Department and Utah County Attorney's Office both declined to accept Bundy's verbal accountability for Laura's homicide, as the open Utah County case was unable to satisfactorily convict Bundy based upon the evidence in possession and with the available investigative sciences for the time."

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"Laura Aime is the quintessential daughter of Utah County," Utah County sheriff's sergeant Mike Reynolds said.

"We felt the pain the family feels when she was taken. We felt the pain that you felt this whole entire time, and we've had the desire to deliver to you some type of healing, we can't really say closure."

Authorities said Ms Aime may have been kept alive for days or even more after her abduction.

"Laura is remembered by her family and friends to be a tall, beautiful, outgoing free spirit who enjoyed outdoor activities and shared a passion for riding horses, hunting, and caring for her several siblings," the sheriff's office said.

"Her family said that Laura was one who found joy in everything she did, making the most of her time with her family. Laura's younger siblings told stories of her abundant compassion and warmth for her family."