Little meningitis survivor Erica vowed 'One day I'll walk again mummy...' and now she has

BEAMING little Erica Scoffings has amazed doctors by walking again - despite being just THREE HOURS from death with the brain bug meningitis.

The three-year-old went from feeling slightly unwell to the brink of losing her life in just a few terrifying hours.

Both of Erica’s legs and her right hand went black and she was rushed into intensive care with bandaged limbs and drips keeping her alive.

Doctors diagnosed meningococcal septicaemia which was eating away at her flesh, exposing the bone.

Happy family ... Erica with mum Michelle and dad Michael

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But amazingly she pulled through and has now made a full recovery eight months later after weeks of hospital treatment.

Little Erica, of Chesterfield, Derbyshire, began her ordeal with had a slight temperature and was put to bed as normal at 7.30pm by mum Michelle, 34.

But shortly before midnight the three-year-old woke up asking for a drink and her mum noticed purple blotches all over her body and a soaring temperature.

Recognising the symptoms, Michelle and husband Michael, 25, bundled her into their car and drove her straight to hospital.

Mum Michelle also kept a remarkable photo diary of Erica’s brush with death in January of this year, which makes an alarming dossier of how quickly meningitis can take hold.

Documented ... mum Michelle took photos showing the rapid onset

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She said: “It happened so quickly, we didn’t have time to think. I was terrified as there was nothing I could do. Every time someone touched her she screamed.

“We expected her to just go onto a drip but we didn’t expect her to go into intensive care. It was the septicaemia which made it so much worse.

“There were so many doctors and medical staff in the room at the hospital. I was in shock but surrounded by my family.

“Erica was screaming and I felt helpless. I just had to sit there and watch and as a parent that is the worst thing that can happen.”

Michelle hailed the NHS doctors and nurses who helped bring her daughter back from the brink of death. She added: “The NHS has been fantastic. They told us everything that was happening.

“Erica is so bubbly and intelligent. She kept saying ’one day I will walk again mummy’ and we stayed really positive throughout the whole situation.

Recovery ... Erica has been determined to walk again

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“She understands that she has been poorly but she has her appetite back now. She is a bit unsteady on her feet and will need splints to walk properly.

“If it wasn’t for the glass test then we wouldn’t know what was wrong.

“I don’t know what would have happened if she hadn’t called out for a drink that evening.”

Michelle now wants to raise awareness of the symptoms of bacterial meningitis and septicaemia, which affects around 3,500 people in the UK each year.