THE DAILY Echo has already beaten its target in a fund-raising campaign to buy a new leg and new toes for four-year-old amputee Sophie Sivess.

The response has been overwhelming, with hundreds of letters of support and thousands of pounds' worth of cheques pouring through our letterbox.

We aimed to raise £2,500 - the amount it will cost for just one prosthesis - but the generosity of Echo readers has been tremendous and so far, in less than a month of starting our Walking for Sophie campaign, we've raised just over £2,800.

Together with the money raised by Glyn Foulger and Sandra Gleeson through a marathon walk, there's enough in the bank to fund cosmetic surgery for new toes - with some left over for a prosthetic leg.

Sophie, who recently started at Parley First School, contracted blood poisoning through a chickenpox spot and, after months battling the illness in hospital, she had to have one foot and the toes on the other amputated.

Her parents Elly and Darren say the standard NHS prosthesis she's been given is no better than a wooden leg and want her to have a foot and toes that look and feel real.

And Elly was moved to tears when she read the letters of support from Echo readers.

She said: "I've read all the cards and I'm really touched. I cried all the way through them. Sophie and I looked through them together.

"She's beginning to understand that you can cry tears of joy as well as sadness.

"A few of the cards had pictures from children - they were lovely.

"Having this money will enable us to give Sophie a whole new lease of life - she'll be getting back what she had before.

"We hope she'll have new toes by Christmas."

Sophie suffered another setback after her foot was amputated when her femur bone snapped.

Until it recovers fully she'll be unable to wear a prosthesis but in the meantime we hope to raise enough to provide new legs as she outgrows them over the coming years.

If you would like to help Sophie get back on her feet send cheques - made payable to Walking for Sophie - to The Daily Echo, Mill Court, Mill Lane, Wimborne, BH21 1JQ.

First published: October 5