A GRANDMOTHER today told of her family's heartache after her three-year-old grandson was struck down by a rare disorder which left him paralysed.

Little Michael Roe, of Bank Top, Blackburn has been in the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, Pendlebury, for seven weeks undergoing intensive rehabilitation in a bid to regain full control over his body.

He has acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, a rare neurological disorder which can occur in association with a viral or bacterial infection and can be fatal.

Experts believe there has not beenanother case of it in Blackburn for 10 years -- although Pendlebury, serving the North West, sees about two victims a year.

Grandma Denise Duffield, 52, speaking out in a bid to encourage people to make charitable donations to the hospital, told how Michael, previously healthy, suddenly fell ill in early October.

She said: "He was feeling lethargic and said he had itchy knees. We took him to the doctor and he said it was a virus and told us to give him Ibuprofen.

"The next day he became worse and I got a phone call saying he had become floppy - his muscles had become limp.

"He was taken to Blackburn Royal Infirmary, then transferred to Pendlebury. We were really frightened.

"We tried to be as normal as possible and stay strong for him but he could have easily died."

Michael, whose mum Samantha Turner, 27, has taken time out from her job at Pleckgate High Schol to be by his bedside in Pendlebury, was in the high dependency ward for a week.

Now he is on the normal ward undergoing intense physiotherapy. The left side of his body remains limp.

Denise said: "They are saying he can hopefully regain full mobility. First they said he had a 70 per cent chance, now it is 'hopefully', so only time will tell."

Denise paid tribute to the "brilliant" care from the hospital's medical staff.

She wants people to donate cash or old toys to the hospital to brighten up the children's lives.

Denise said the cash could be used to buy equipment, such as a special car seat for Michael, who went to Griffin Park Nursery, and who has a five-year-old sister, Nicole

She added: "If he comes home for an hour or two, it would have to be in an ambulance and we want his life to be as normal as possible.

"We cannot afford to buy the chair. If people donated cash and toys it would make such a big difference to the quality of their lives."

Suzanne Stolberg, fundraising communications manager for the hospital, said: "We are delighted that Denise and Samantha have thought of supporting us this way and every donation will go directly in helping the patients."