Lucy was fighting for her life. So were her newborn son and her dad.

Three members of the same family in the US are gradually recovering after fighting life-threatening illnesses all at the same time.

Last October, Lucy Eliopulos, 37 from Illinois, suffered double vision before she went into labour with her third child, son George. After the birth, Eliopulos was diagnosed with a grade III brain tumour.

Only months earlier, Eliopulos’ doctor had held off operating on her father, Jim Mandros, after he received news that his brain cancer had returned after 10 years. The doctor didn’t want to operate, and risk Mandros not surviving to meet his grandson.

“[My dad and I] were at the appointment with my doctor – I was pregnant and he kept saying, ‘I don’t want to operate on your father because he has a grand-baby coming,'” Eliopulos told ABC News.

“He gave me so much attention and little did we know that three months later, he’d be operating on me.”

The bad news didn’t stop there.

While Eliopulos was receiving treatment (she underwent surgery in November and also received radiation and chemotherapy) her newborn baby was admitted to the same hospital because he couldn’t fight a cold.

Soon, he was diagnosed with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). His little life was almost lost at least three times.

Now, the five-month old is back home and finally recovering.

“He finished his rehab and is now enjoying time with his family at home,” Dr. Astha Sharma of the paediatric intensive care unit at Loyola University Medical Center told ABC News.

“I think when you have a child that’s this sick it can pull a lot of families apart. This illness along the illness Lucy, George’s mum, had, it actually drew them together.

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“Their spirit is very inspiring. No matter what happened to George, they always remained very positive.”

Eliopulos is also home. She is fighting the cancer and receiving maintenance chemotherapy.

Her father is receiving treatment for the second time in his life, but wishes he could take the cancer from his daughter.

“I don’t know where she’s getting the strength from,” Mandros told ABC News.

“She’s been a rock star, I tell you. [I] cry still, but she stays strong. Lucy’s tumour is much worse than mine. I wish I could take her tumour and put it in my head.”

Eliopulos says she’s looking forward to putting this horrible experience behind them.

“I’m very happy that George is home with us because that was the hardest part for us,” she said.

“As far as the cancer goes, my dad and I both have to get follow-up scans and I’m hoping we’ll never have to go through this again.

“These last five months, we haven’t been able to be a family. I’m hoping we move on from this and just live.”