Girl amputee, six, gets MRSA bug

It is not clear how Olivia, six, caught the bug

The family of a six-year-old girl who had her hands and feet amputated after contracting meningitis have confirmed she has caught MRSA.

Olivia Clarke, from Staffordshire, was struck down as she recovered from surgery to remove damaged tissue.

Her mother Rachel Nickson said she was angry and in shock.

The University Hospital of North Staffordshire, where Olivia is being treated, said she could have caught the bug at a hospital or in the community.

'No danger'

Olivia, from Stoke-on-Trent, had originally been treated at Staffordshire General Hospital for meningitis before going home.

She was then admitted to the University Hospital of North Staffordshire to have her hands and feet amputated.

A spokesperson for the hospital said a routine scan at the time of the amputation showed she had MRSA and it could have been picked up during her previous hospital visit or from the community.

Doctors say Olivia is not in any danger as the bug was detected early and she is being treated with antibiotics.

But her family say they are devastated. Her mother and grandmother, Christine Bill, plan to present Prime Minister Tony Blair with a petition calling for greater hospital cleanliness.

Mrs Bill said: "She's a six-year-old girl. She's fought her way back from death with meningitis.

"She then had to have a quadruple amputation, then a week later she had to have skin grafts. She's a little girl who's been through enough. I am devastated."

She added: "The doctors, they have done their best. They saved my granddaughter's life, there's no doubt about that.

"But there are big doubts and big question marks over cleanliness and I am angry."

It was hoped Olivia, who fell into a coma on 19 January, would be back home within three weeks, but Mrs Bill said that now she has MRSA it could be six to eight weeks.