A MUM whose 11-year-old daughter died from a rare illness has raised £1,300 with help of family and friends to buy special suits to help other child intensive care patients keep their dignity.

On Wednesday Farah Ali will take the 60 suits to the paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) at Leeds General Infirmary to hand over to staff who looked after her daughter Hafsah who died last August.

Mrs Ali, of Woodroyd Terrace, West Bowling, was so grateful for taking part in a trial of the suits when Hafsah was desperately ill in a hospital bed that she wanted others to benefit from them.

The dignity suits mean that patients can stay covered at all times but still give doctors and nurses easy access to keep monitoring and give treatment.

Hafsah, who was a pupil at Bowling Park Primary School, was given only seven hours to live when doctors admitted her to hospital in July, diagnosing her with HLH, hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, a cell-malfunctioning condition that was shutting down her body but she survived one month longer.

Doctors tried treating her with cancer drugs and putting her into a controlled coma with her devoted mum and dad Bilal Azeem keeping a vigil by her side in an isolation room but despite best efforts she could not be saved.

It was while Hafsah was a PICU patient that a nurse asked Mrs Ali if she would like to try a dignity suit for her daughter, better than the traditional backless gowns.

She was so impressed with the first suit that she contacted the makers in Derbyshire to get more to use and after mentioning Hafsah was a passionate fan of Liverpool Football Club, the small business got in touch with the club which sent a goalkeeper’s jersey to be adapted.

“Using those suits helped us such a lot. Dignity was very important to us. We are so thankful to everyone who has helped us raise money so we are able to take 60 of them to the LGI, especially at this special time of Ramadan which is a holy month of giving.”

The family is still struggling to get answers about why Hafsah got ill. There is little known about the condition which took her life which makes their loss even more agonising, said Mrs Ali.

“We just don’t have any answers. It could be another ten or 20 years. There’s not much research on it. It could be inherited, it might not be.

“It could be linked to vaccinations or may be not. We’ve got lots of questions we need answering but we don’t know when or if they ever will be. Other children could die from this, we have other children coming up to Hafsah’s age.

“Not knowing is painful.”

Hafsah’s death left teachers and classmates shocked at her school. A photograph has now been hung at the school’s entrance to remember her and earlier this year her headteacher Stuart Herrington ran the Paris Marathon in her memory.

He said the thought of his former pupil would keep him going when he felt too tired to go on. His fundriaing brought in around £3,000 for the Candlelighters Trust young people’s cancer charity based in Leeds.

Hafsah was a popular pupil who was always keen to help others, was the first to volunteer and loved sport.

She was also a devout young scholar learning from the Koran.