NIGHT-times were a nightmare for the family of Stourbridge five-year-old Iyla Rose Marsh, until they got a loan of specialist equipment from a disabled children’s charity.

Iyla has a complex condition which has limited her mobility and has also given her brain damage, and for the past six-months was struggling to sleep more than three hours-a-night.

Her mum Sam said: “The less she slept, the worse her seizures became. She was having up to 30 a day, which in itself made her extremely poorly.

“She has limited mobility but she was in danger of hurting herself – so she ended up sleeping on a mattress on the floor.

“Unfortunately, she could then pull herself up on furniture in her room, and she would try to move around the house.”

Fortunately for the Marsh family, they already knew help could be at hand from children’s charity Newlife and thanks to fundraisers at Central England Co-operative, the charity provided Iyla with a permanent safe sleeping space all of her own.

Sam said: “Our amazing occupational therapist got in touch with Newlife once again and within 48 hours a specialist bed arrived at our home through an emergency equipment loan.

“It instantly solved the problem and Iyla went from sleeping for no more than three hours to going through from 6pm to 7am, without us hearing a peep from her. It was like magic!

“Every aspect of our lives is easier since Iyla got the bed on loan. As a direct result of sleeping more the number of seizures has been drastically reduced, she may only have one every couple of weeks.

“We don’t think she will ever be seizure free due to her conditions, but as long as she is sleeping properly, taking her medication and having her Ketogenic diet, we can keep them to a minimum.

“We want to say a huge thank you to everyone at Central England Co-operative for helping make this happen. Their support of Newlife will make a huge difference to our family.”

Newlife has been Central England Co-operative’s staff-elected charity since 2012, with staff and customers raising £1.3 million which has helped fund specialist equipment, including wheelchairs and walking frames, portable hoists and communication aids for more than 600 children.

Louise Dickens, manager at Co-op’s Glebe Lane store in Norton, said: “Central England Co-operative takes fundraising to help local communities very seriously, and we are committed to making a positive impact in the local areas in which we trade.

“Working with Newlife has provided a great opportunity for us to help make life easier for youngsters like Iyla.”

For more information about Newlife, or to donate to the charity, visit www.newlifecharity.co.uk/westmidlands