GAZETTE & HERALD: SINGLE mum Nicky Randall, who is struggling to bring up her severely disabled daughter Jade alone, has appealed for help to turn a dilapidated house into a welcoming new home.

Ms Randall, 22, will move from her current home in Newcroft Road, Calne, into a housing association property in Penhill Road in the town in just two weeks.

The appreciative mum explained that the house has more room than her former home, making it more suitable for the 24-hour care and bulky equipment that Jade needs.

But it is desperately in need of re-decoration and she now faces a battle against time and a shortage of money to make it habitable.

"I'm frantically packing all our things up to take, along with all of Jade's medical equipment, but I'm aware that there is still so much to do to make the new house habitable," she explained.

"The wallpaper is peeling away, the paintwork is chipped and all the paint is discoloured.

"If there was anyone out there who could spare a couple of hours to help me strip wallpaper or sand down the gloss work I would be so grateful.

"The sanding in particular is very urgent as I won't be able to do that when Jade is living here, because the dust will affect her breathing."

She added: "The house has had some tracking put along the bedroom and bathroom ceilings, so hoists can be fitted to lift Jade and a proper lift will eventually be fitted by social services, but at the moment my main concern is being able to paint the walls and get hold of carpets I need all the help I can get."

Jade, who will be three years old on Saturday, developed a catalogue of medical problems after she stopped growing inside the womb at just 28 weeks.

Scans had showed Nicky that her precious daughter was tiny and that her left hand was also unformed. But there were further shocks to come.

Born six weeks early and weighing just two pounds and 13 ounces, doctors revealed that Jade had a chromosome abnormality which had severely affected her physical development.

During eight weeks in newborn intensive care, a distraught Nicky learned that her child's eyes were not properly formed, giving her limited vision. Unable to eat normally, a nose tube was fitted to feed Jade and was later substituted for a stomach tube, which she may rely on indefinitely.

Tests also showed that Jade has limited hearing and grommets were fitted in both her ears.

And worse still, the tiny infant's pharynx breathing tube - would collapse when she slept deeply, leaving her unable to breath properly and often blue from lack of oxygen.

As a result, she is hooked up to oxygen through the night while she sleeps.

"We get by and I have lots of medical help for her, but the worst thing for me as her mum is that the rarity of her chromosomal defect means that the doctors cannot predict what the future has in store for Jade."

Just five months after Jade was born, Nicky's partner Jade's father, left. He has had no contact with his daughter since.

"It has been extremely difficult at times and if I didn't have my mum and her partner I don't know what I would have done," said Nicky.

If you could like to offer help to Nicky and Jade, or would like more information, please contact Debbie Waite at the Gazette on (01249) 654422 or e-mail dwaite@newswilts.co.uk.