DARTS enthusiasts will be hoping to hit the target on March 17 in a thank-you to doctors and nurses who cared for baby Kelisha Samuel.

Staff at the Royal Hampshire County Hospital's Special Care Baby Unit saved her life after she was born 12 weeks premature.

First-time mum, Emma Harper, 33, was due to give birth on December 25 last year and all the family were looking forward to a Christmas baby.

But on September 30, Emma went into labour and was taken to the Winchester hospital, where, on October 2, Kelisha was born. She had lung disease and an infection, so she was on a ventilator for six days. She was also kept in an incubator to help her survive.

Emma, of North Hill Close, needed an operation after her three-day labour and hospitalised for a week recovering.

SCBU staff cared for Kelisha for eight weeks and now mother, daughter and proud dad, Keith Samuel, are a happy family. Emma joked that Kelisha was keen to prove her lungs worked because she has kept her up at night.

Emma's sister, Mandy, who was at the birth, said she wanted to do something for the unit after seeing first hand the good work that goes on there.

"When you leave hospital, you always thank the nurses, but we thought we could probably do something a bit better and raise some money." So she decided to get together with her dad, Mick, to organise a darts competition.

The idea of the Kelisha Cup was born and the pair set about putting the event together. Both are active members of Hampshire Darts and have arranged for most of the county squad to play. Paul Hogan, who reached the last eight of January's World Darts Championship, will put in an appearance at the charity event.

Emma said her family had been "absolutely brilliant", adding: "The nurses do such a marvellous job. It's really nice that everybody's wanting to help."

For more information or to donate raffle prizes, contact Mandy or Mick on 01962 869840.