OUR campaign for four-year-old amputee Sophie Sivess has reached £2,000 but we need Echo readers to dig deep to reach our target.

We need to raise £2,500 towards vital equipment to keep Sophie mobile as well as a new prosthetic leg that looks and feels real.

Sophie, from Ferndown, had to have one foot and the toes on the other foot amputated after she contracted blood poisoning through a chickenpox spot.

Her parents Elly and Darren described the standard NHS prosthetic she's been given as "like a wooden leg" - they want her to have a more realistic one as well as cosmetic surgery to give her back the toes on the other foot.

Elly, 25, said: "Just imagine swapping places with a little girl like this. If this was your child would you want her settling for a leg that doesn't even look like a leg?"

But the months Sophie spent battling in hospital meant Darren had to virtually give up work and the family is left struggling to pay the mortgage and unable to afford all the equipment Sophie needs.

The receptionist at her doctors' surgery, Sandra Gleeson, and her friend Glyn Foulger plan to walk 26 miles in Ferndown tomorrow to raise money and have launched an appeal, Walking for Sophie.

To help Sophie get back on her feet send cheques payable to Walking for Sophie to: Daily Echo, Mill Court, Mill Lane, Wimborne, BH21 1JQ.

First published: Sept 24