Ever since her birth, Lilac Rose Jackson has been defying the odds.

Born at 34 weeks, she contracted sepsis and was on life support with only a small chance of survival, but came through it.

“After that we thought it was all clear but she then started falling behind on her milestones,” explained Leila, Lilac’s mother.

“She was diagnosed with Spastic Diplegia Cerebral Palsy around her first birthday and we were told it was unlikely she would ever walk or talk.”

Now aged four with her fifth birthday just around the corner, Lilac, who lives in Cheltenham with her family, is both walking and talking – and has become something of an internet sensation.

A recent video of her walking into her first day of school has been shared by BBC News, ITV and even Fox News in America, with the BBC clip having over a million views.

Leila first shared the video on her Facebook page, ‘Lilac’s Little Legs’, which was set up to help raise the funds for a life-changing operation.

“By her third birthday,” continued Leila, “she had made progress but we knew we’d reached the limit of what she could do without any intervention.

“At the time the spinal operation (SDR) wasn’t available on the NHS so we had to fundraise and that’s where Lilac’s Little Legs began.

“Over about a year we’d raised just under £120,000, which went towards the surgery, physiotherapy and rehabilitation.

“It was important to us to have the operation in the UK to show we have the quality surgeons that can help children like Lilac.”

Lilac’s operation took place in Bristol, one of only a few locations in the UK able to offer the specific procedure. The NHS has since approved SDR for other cases like Lilac’s.

Since then Lilac has continued to improve, and Leila makes sure to keep her fans – which number nearly 20,000 people in terms of Facebook likes and Twitter and Instagram followers – up to date with her progress.

She explains how the page is no longer just a fundraising effort.

“Lilac’s Little Legs was set up as a fundraising campaign but it has become so much more than that.

“After the video of her walking into school I had so many messages from people saying, ‘I used to feel sorry for children with disabilities but I see she’s just a happy little girl, I don’t see a disability’.

“As parents we don’t want people to feel sorry for our children, we just want them to be treated equally and have the same opportunities as everyone else.

“The early stages of having a child with disabilities is really hard, I had a lot of dark days. But I want to show to anyone who might be in that position I was in that we are so privileged to be parents of these kids.”

After her video went viral, Lilac was interviewed by both BBC and ITV News – “she keeps bringing herself up on iPlayer!” said Leila.

“The video was on Newsround on CBBC and the next day at school she had all the older kids at school coming up to her, she was a little celeb.

“I think she was a little bit, ‘who are all these people!’, but it was comforting to know she wasn’t going to be left behind at school, her teachers always say they can never see her because of the crowd of kids talking to her.”

Lilac is set to appear on our screens again next year after being cast in an upcoming Channel 4 drama.

“We became aware of a talent agency, Zebedee, who are pushing for more representation of people with disabilities,” said Leila.

“We got involved and Lilac had her first campaign with Primark, then they got in touch and said Channel 4 was looking for a little girl like Lilac.

“We went up to Glasgow and that’s where I found out David Tennant would be playing her dad.”

‘Deadwater Fell’ stars Tennant as a GP in the fictional Scottish town of Kirkdarroch, with Lilac playing one of his three daughters.

She spent 10 weeks on set in Glasgow, which Leila says did wonders for her in more ways than one.

“At first I think it was a little overwhelming,” she said, “but once she found her flow she loved it.

“Her confidence has improved, her speech has improved and in turn she’s made physical progress. We could have spent thousands on therapy but it wouldn’t have done anywhere near as much as being involved in this project has.”

The show doesn’t have a release date as of yet and is expected to be out early next year.

But with it being quite a bleak drama with a somewhat gritty storyline, will Lilac even be allowed to stay up to watch?

“We can’t wait to see it,” said Leila. “Although there will have to be quite a bit of fast forwarding!”

To keep up to date with Lilac visit her Facebook page www.facebook.com/lilacslittlelegs