A LITTLE girl left with lifelong disabilities after a hospital's delivery room blunder was yesterday awarded £1.6m in damages.

Stacy Jackson, now eight, from Spennymoor, County Durham, was let down by maternity unit staff who failed to pick up signs of distress on a foetal monitor while her mother Helen was in labour.

Stacy was being suffocated by her umbilical cord as she was born in Bishop Auckland General Hospital, County Durham, leaving her with cerebral palsy and epilepsy.

Mrs Jackson sued the former County Durham Health Authority for negligence and was awarded damages yesterday at a High Court hearing, sitting in Newcastle.

Judge Christopher Walton praised the schoolgirl after hearing she was determined to lead a normal life despite the tremendous odds she faces.

Stacy's family are supporting her in her dream of going to college and she hopes to marry and have children of her own.

Judge Walton praised Stacy for being a "courageous, independent minded child who, if anything, has refused to recognise the disabilities she has".

He said in his judgement that the efforts of Mrs Jackson and her husband Malcolm to care for Stacy had been "heroic".

The long-suffering eight-year-old also suffers from asthma and the skin diseases psoriasis and eczema.

But medical experts are so impressed by Stacy's determined attitude that they believe she will not need 24-hour care in future. The judge said: "The evidence of Stacy's mother was that Stacy is a fiercely independent person who wants to do as much as possible for herself."

Stacy, who has two elder brothers, manages to move around independently by crawling around her home but uses a buggy outside and a walking frame at school.

County Durham and Darlington Health Authority accepted liability.

A spokesman said last night: "We are glad it has been possible to reach a settlement. We sympathise with the family and wish them well in the future."