For Australian boy born prematurely in New York on parents' vacation, a hospital homecoming

James O'Leary, right, and his father Brett, left, are hugged by members of Bellevue hospital neonatal team that helped care for him at a party in his honor, Wednesday, June 24, 2015, in New York. James O'Leary was born by surprise, a world away from his home in Australia. His mother was six months pregnant when she went into labor on a vacation in New York. Nearly six years later, he and his father visited Bellevue hospital Wednesday to thank the doctors, nurses and others who cared for him. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer) (The Associated Press)

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James O'Leary, right, hugs a member of Bellevue hospital neonatal team that helped care for him during a party in his honor Wednesday, June 24, 2015, in New York. James was born by surprise, a world away from his home in Australia. His mother was six months pregnant when she went into labor on a vacation in New York. Nearly six years later, he and his father visited Bellevue hospital Wednesday to thank the doctors, nurses and others who cared for him. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer) (The Associated Press)

James O'Leary eats cake at a party in his honor given by Bellevue hospital's neonatal team that cared for him Wednesday, June 24, 2015, in New York. James was born by surprise, a world away from his home in Australia. His mother was six months pregnant when she went into labor on a vacation in New York. Nearly six years later, he and his father visited Bellevue hospital Wednesday to thank the doctors, nurses and others who cared for him. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer) (The Associated Press)

NEW YORK – James O'Leary weighed barely over a pound when he was born by surprise in New York, a world away from his home in Australia.

His mother was nearly six months pregnant when she went into labor while on vacation. It became an anxious four-month sojourn, with James in intensive care at Bellevue Hospital.

Nearly six years later, he went to Bellevue Wednesday for a reunion with the doctors, nurses and other staffers who cared for him. They became a surrogate family when the O'Learys were far from their own.

Neonatologist Dr. Pradeep Mally says James couldn't breathe on his own when born, but he "was a fighter."

Now, he's a healthy, typical kindergartener. He lives in Sydney with parents Brett and Jennifer O'Leary and three younger siblings.