The mother of a severely disabled girl has turned therapist to help save her life.

Lindsey Chadwick, of Thoroughgood Road, Clacton, took the life-changing step after her daughter Lucy was facing death.

The three-year-old has a rare chromosomal condition called 2q24 deletion, which means that her head, arms and legs are not growing properly.

Last August, Lindsey feared she would lose her.

"Her whole body was shutting down," said the 32-year-old, who has two other daughters, Amy, six, and Chloe, four.

"I took her out of hospital against the doctors' advice - when you are told your daughter is dying you do anything you can to help her."

Luckily for Lindsey, a friend told her about an advanced therapy course she had read about.

The three-year programme, which entails training sessions every three months, takes place at a private clinic in Sussex, costing £600 a time with fees and travel expenses.

For Lindsey, it is worth every penny as the difference in Lucy has been, she says, "remarkable".

"I give her two hours of advanced physiotherapy every day," she said.

"She has gone from being profoundly disabled to being able to see and play and her co-ordination has got much better."