LITTLE Harley Slack stares out from his hospital bed - and faces up to a daunting future.

Harley, four, had his arms and legs amputated after being struck down by meningitis.

His parents Adam and Samantha told how their precious son beat the odds to win his battle for life - but at a terrible price.

Now the M.E.N is joining forces with our sister paper the Stockport Express to ask readers to help support the family's appeal to pay for the artificial limbs that could transform Harley's life.

Adam, 20, said: "He was so ill that we convinced ourselves that he was going to die but Harley proved everybody wrong. The medical staff told us they hadn't seen anybody like him.

Heart stopped

"He came so close to dying - we now just want to give him the best chance in life."

Adam and Samantha had taken Harley to Stepping Hill Hospital, in Stockport, with a sore throat and temperature after he woke in the night in May complaining he felt poorly.

Within hours he was fighting for life after being diagnosed with meningitis B. He was taken by ambulance to Royal Manchester Children's Hospital. Doctors there managed to revive him three times after his heart stopped.

Harley then appeared to stabilise before his condition worsened as septicaemia, a poisonous infection, took hold.

Adam, from Hazel Grove, Stockport, said: "Harley was in a very bad way and went black from head to toe. His body was an open wound because his circulation just stopped working.

Unbelievable

"At one point we thought he might not just lose his limbs, but also his ears and his nose."

Harley's arms were amputated below the elbow and his legs below the knee earlier this month. He is now being cared for at the new Royal Manchester Children's hospital where he is likely to be until the end of the year.

Mum Samantha, 23, said: "It was unbelievable. Harley went from being a normal youngster to fighting for his life. Before Harley caught the disease he was an energetic child who, like most children, would make the most of life.

"He loved going to nursery and loved to play with his family and friends.

"For Harley everyday tasks will now take so much effort, such as brushing his teeth, getting dressed and making a drink. We have been through so many emotions.

"One day we were looking forward to life and the next everything had changed."

How YOU can help ease Harley's ordeal

Tell-tale signs of meningitis:

SYMPTOMS of meningitis include fever, vomiting, severe headaches and in some cases a rash. Sufferers may experience a stiff neck and a dislike of bright lights plus they may also be very sleepy.

They can also be confused or delirious and prone to fits.

Symptoms of septicaemia include fever, vomiting, limb, joint or muscle pain, stomach pain or diarrhoea. Sufferers may experience cold hands and feet, shivering, fast breathing and breathlessness and a rash.

In babies, symptoms of meningitis or septicaemia include irritability and soft spots on the head and a high-pitched or moaning cry.

Donate to Harley's appeal fund