A LITTLE girl in Mid Devon has become the first child to benefit from an appeal launched by a grieving family to provide specialist equipment for disabled and terminally ill children.

Maddie Bell, of Willand, who is 18 months old and has cerebral palsy, has been provided with a specialist wheelchair so she is safe and comfortable when out with her family.

It makes her the first child to benefit from Sam’s Legacy, a campaign headed by the Allen family of Hem-yock, which aims to help raise the £40,000 needed each year so the New-life Foundation for Disabled Chil-dren can continue to support families of disabled children in Devon.

Nicky and Nick Allen, and children Josh, Lauryn and Kasey, launched the campaign for Newlife in memory of their 18-year-old son, Sam, who died this summer after a brave four-year battle with cancer.

Maddie is visually impaired and profoundly deaf, has poor muscle tone and is unable to sit unaided.

Mum Kayleigh said: “She was in a standard child’s buggy, but it didn’t provide any support for her, so she was very uncomfortable.

“In the past few months she just wouldn’t go in it at all, so we had to carry her everywhere.

“We have a three-year-old son, Oliver, so the pre-school run was a nightmare.”

Kayleigh called the charity after statutory services offered her a voucher for just £937 towards the £3,349 specialist wheelchair.

She said: “When I called Newlife I had a nice chat with one of the charity’s nurses and was able to progress most of the application over the phone.

“I just had a couple of pieces of paperwork. Newlife turned around the application really quickly.

“The wheelchair’s brilliant. It’s really supportive for Maddie with body, under-arm and head supports, and safety straps, so she can sit up and be more aware of what’s going on around her.

“It also reclines, so if she needs to sleep it’s not a problem.

“It’s a very modern piece of equipment and not at all how you’d perceive a wheelchair to look.”

Sam Allen was diagnosed with bone cancer when he was 14 and after chemotherapy failed he underwent an operation to have his left leg amputated above the knee.

He remained cancer-free until March 2012 when a routine scan found a tumour on his lung which was removed through chemotherapy and surgery but the cancer was to return twice more – in October 2013 when surgeons removed the tumour, and in January this year when Sam felt severe pain in his joints.

A tumour was again discovered on his lung and doctors said its size meant nothing more could be done.

As Sam grew weaker, his parents contacted Newlife to ask for a mobility scooter so he could still get around and spend time with his friends during his final months.