A mother is appealing for help paying for a specialised wheelchair so her daughter can stand up straight for the first time.

Laya Zenonos, four, of Amberley Road, in Bush Hill Park, suffers from a rare type of spinal muscular atrophy that causes progressive muscle wasting and mobility impairment.

Using a wheelchair known as a wizzybug, donated by a charity, Laya can get around in the home, but the chair has become too small for her.

Laya’s mother, Luchia, has been told the wheelchair designed for children from five to ten years old will cost £25,000.

With Laya turning five next month, Ms Zenonos turned to the internet to seek help and started a fundraising page.

She told the Enfield Independent: “It is a lot of money but the things it will be able to give her will be life changing. The current wheelchair is too small and we will have to give it back soon, meaning she will go back to just lying down all day.

“It would be like taking her legs away.”

When her daughter was born, Ms Zenonos was told that 95 per cent of babies born with this type of the disease do not make it past their first birthday and the other five per cent do not make it past their second.

She added: “Laya is a miracle girl and deserves to have this next wheelchair. It would allow her to sit at our dinner table at the right height and sit on the floor to play her brother and sister.

“She is a very determined girl and the latest wheelchair would give her a greater sense of freedom.

"She attends Raglan school, who have bent over backwards to accommodate her and she'd be able to play with her friends with the new chair."

Since starting the fundraising page 15 days ago, £3,289 have been donated to the cause and the site has just 46 days left in order to collect the £25,000 total.

To donate, click here.