HELICOPTER RESCUE 'WE NEARLY LOST OUR DAUGHTER'

Social media star Louis Davis says his family could have paid the ultimate price

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He's a Kiwi TikTok sensation, with a collective social media following of over two million people.

But behind the funny, heartfelt videos about fatherhood that Louis Davis produces for fans all over the world, the 30-year-old has struggled with one of the most traumatic experiences a parent could ever go through.

In March last year, Louis and his wife Ashleigh, who live in the Far North, delivered their second daughter Kānoa by home birth.

"We had our first daughter Anakiwa in hospital, but having moved back to our home village in Northland, this time around we felt safe and comfortable enough to have a home birth," says Louis.

He describes the birth itself as "magical", but a few hours after Kanoa was born, she began vomiting and was rushed to Whangarei Hospital.

"We were told Kānoa needed to be helicoptered to Starship Hospital in Auckland. We were freaking out because we couldn't believe how quickly her condition had deteriorated. The whole experience was traumatising."

Doctors discovered Kānoa had an issue with her intestines and she underwent a lifesaving operation that took a team of surgeons several hours.

Despite that rocky start, today Känoa is a happy, healthy toddler who often features in her famous father's videos. But Louis will never forget how close he and Ashleigh, his childhood sweetheart and fellow content creator, came to losing their adored daughter.