A nine-year-old girl has thanked the doctors and nurses who saved her life by raising hundreds of pounds for their hospital’s intensive care unit.

Sophie Burgess, was taken to Ipswich Hospital after she contracted a bacterial infection in her windpipe in 2013.

Her mum, Sam, 35, praised hospital staff for saving the Dale Hall Primary School pupil’s life. Sophie has since made a full recovery and over Christmas arranged fundraising carol singing events.

Mrs Burgess said: “It was a rare condition, I thought she had tonsillitis at the start but it ended up with Sophie in intensive care. In the early hours of the morning Sophie took a turn for the worse and they saved her life. The treatment and care she received was absolutely fantastic.

“She suffered from post-traumatic disorder afterwards but she now understands what happened to her.”

The family from Preston Drive, Ipswich, are looking at holding the event annually in a bid to raise enough money to purchase another intensive care bed for children at the hospital.

Over Christmas £416 was raised.