Girl 'was 30 minutes from dying'

The mother of a five-year-old girl has been told by doctors her daughter was 30 minutes from dying after she contracted meningitis.

Ellie Bishop, from Oldbury in the Black Country, was rushed to hospital after a rash appeared on her body.

Doctors at Birmingham Children's Hospital are to amputate both her legs on Monday because of the bug.

A two-year-old girl also suffering from meningitis and from Oldbury is in a stable condition at the same hospital.

A spokesman for the hospital said Bethany Lee Shaw Shillam had been admitted but a decision on whether she needs surgery had not yet been taken.

The hospital said that if we had gone to the hospital half-an-hour later she would not be here Karen Bishop, Ellie's mother

After Ellie has been operated on, a decision will be taken over whether she needs to have her arm amputated as well.

Her mother, Karen, told BBC News that the disease was discovered just in time.

"Doctors and just said it was flu but about an hour later the rash appeared and it just came on so rapidly," she said.

"The hospital said that if she had gone to the hospital half-an-hour later she would not be here."

Members of the local community are trying to raise funds for the family and an internationally renowned concert pianist is lending her support to the campaign.

Jean Martin, from Lichfield, said she wanted to help through a fund-raising performance.

A spokesman for the Meningitis Research Foundation said the under-five age group is the most at risk.

"It is usually single cases so we would not expect an outbreak. If anyone is at risk it would be Ellie's immediate family.

"The bacteria lives in the nose and throat and is carried by up to 10% of the population at any one time.

"It is passed by people kissing and people living in the same household and breathing in the same air."