AN outpouring of community support has allowed a grandma to purchase a much-needed stairlift for her granddaughter.

Debbie Pay, a full-time carer from Millom, appealed to the public earlier this month for help to buy a monitor which would alert her when three-year-old Amiya suffers from a dangerous seizure. The 53-year-old has full guardianship of Amiya, who has the rare neurological disorder Sturge-Weber syndrome. As a result of this, Amiya has birth marks on her face, body and brain which cause extreme learning difficulties, epilepsy and seizures. Amiya can suffer from these seizures in her sleep and, when they happen, urgently requires rescue medication within five minutes. After calling on the public to help source the monitor, Mrs Pay’s friend decided to set up a GoFundMe page which raised nearly £3,000 in less than 12 hours, allowing Mrs Pay to purchase both a nocturnal seizure monitor and a stair lift to help carry Amiya upstairs.

Mrs Pay said she was 'overwhelmed' with the outpouring of support from the community. She said: "After we raised enough money for the nocturnal seizure monitor, people just kept donating and donating.

"Amiya can't stand or walk and I desperately needed something to carry her up the stairs.

"It's really difficult to carry her up the stairs at the moment and would only take one trip before we both fell down.

"So when the total was getting over £3,000, I thought I'm going to get a stair lift for her as well." Mrs Pay said the stair lift will change both her and Amiya's lives.

"It's marvellous for us both," she said.

"It makes things so much easier for me and there's no risk of falling over or causing an accident.

"I'm so grateful." Mrs Pay said she would have never been able to afford the stair lift without the help of the community.

She said: "I would never have been able to afford the stair lift on my own or would've had to have waited to get a council grant which could be up to six months.

"It's the community which has made this happen which is fantastic."