A FIVE-YEAR-OLD girl has become one of the youngest sufferers of multiple sclerosis in the country.

Lucy Wood, from Peterlee, County Durham, was diagnosed after suffering bouts of blindness, vomiting and walking difficulties.

She is now to be the star of a national advertising campaign for the MS Society aimed at raising awareness of the condition in children.

Her parents, Stuart and Sharon, said the diagnosis was devastating for the family.

Mr Wood is also fighting the condition after being told he was a sufferer aged just 27.

Mrs Wood, 39, said: “We already had a good idea of what was wrong with Lucy, but having it confirmed was horrific.

“It was her birthday party and Lucy lay down on the kitchen floor exhausted, but then couldn’t get up.

“When she began vomiting, I put her to bed hoping it was a tummy bug.

“But two days later, Lucy started dragging her left leg, just as her father had done before he was diagnosed.

“I felt sick. This time her neurologist confirmed MS. We were inconsolable. It just seemed so cruel.

“She is such a brave girl, she never complains.”

There is little research into children’s MS – and no figures on the number of under-18s with the condition.