A MOTHER has won her battle to find a new home so her disabled daughter can finally leave hospital - after her plight was highlighted in the Daily Echo.

Nine-year-old cerebral palsy sufferer Natalie Hardie has been stranded in Southampton General Hospital for more than three months because her present home is not suitable for her wheelchair.

Her mother, Jane, from Weston, Southampton, issued a desperate plea for help so that they could be a family again.

Now she has been rehoused in a three-bed-room property which is located in Millbrook, Southampton.

The home has been specially adapted for wheelchair users and has a lift in one of the rooms so Natalie does not have to suffer the agony of climbing the stairs.

Miss Hardie is now preparing for the move so Natalie can be brought home from hos-pital as soon as possible.

She said: "I genuinely believe if it was not for the Daily Echo I would not have got this house. "I am pleased something has hap-pened. It has been going on for so long we could not stand it any more.

"Natalie really is pleased." The house is owned by the Western Challenge Housing Association and Miss Hardie's move was organised by Southampton City Council's housing department.

A spokesman said: "We are pleased that our efforts to find Miss Hardie appropriate accommodation have been successful and we hope that she and her family settle happily into their new home."

A spokesman from Southampton General Hospital said: "Natalie is medically ready for discharge and this will happen when it is appropriate."

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