A BABY suffering from serious breathing problems had his life brightened up by hospital staff - and now a kind donation is helping other little ones benefit.

Daniel Beardsworth was just seven weeks old when he contracted bronchiolitis, requiring specialist one-to-one care in the High Dependency Unit (HDU) at Furness General Hospital (FGH) in Barrow.

Now eight months old, Daniel is recovering well at home.

However, it was the unexpected impact of sensory lights which made such a difference to Daniel’s recovery.

Tony Thackrah, Daniel’s grandfather, first noticed this and decided to instigate the donation of two sets of fibre-optic lights to help other babies and young hospital patients.

Mr Thackrah, a retired Heysham Power Stations instructor and a ‘Mark Mason’, said: “My wife and I were in France when it happened.

“Daniel was very, very poorly.

"The staff were just amazing.

“I’m glad that the lights we’ve donated will help many children, including children with sensory impairment.

“When I heard that the Children’s Ward was short of these lights, I wanted to help.”

Mr Thackrah, alongside his fellow Mark Masons, donated two sets of sensory lights worth more than £1,000 to staff on the children’s ward.

Lorraine Foster, a hospital play specialist for UHMBT, first brought the fibre-optic light strands to Daniel’s bed when he was recovering.

She said: “It’s just fantastic that Tony and his friends have donated the lights.

“They’re really kind.

"The lights will make such a difference to children and babies on the ward.

“It’s wonderful for them to have that sensory experience.

“We recently looked after a child with limited sight but he could see the fibre-optic lights. He loved picking them up and looking at them. The colours are continually changing so it’s very stimulating for children."

Daniel’s mum, Anna Beardsworth, from Roose, said: “It was scary when Daniel was ill.

“To see your child not being able to breathe is the most awful thing.

“The staff helped him with his breathing. They were amazing.

“The nursing staff were absolutely brilliant in HDU. That’s where we met Lorraine

“There was nothing much to do on HDU so Lorraine went to find some fibre-optic lights.

“She draped them around Daniel’s cot and he loved them. It was good for us too.

“It gave us something to touch and feel – something to show Daniel and distract him from his illness.”