IT'S been 17 years since Rednal youngster Heather Preen died after contracting E-coli, but the money raised in her memory is now funding cutting edge research to prevent the same tragedy happening to other children.

In 1999, eight-year-old Heather was on holiday with her family in Devon when she caught the disease, causing her to develop Haemolytic Uraemic Syndrome (HUS) and suffer irreversible brain damage and kidney failure within just a few days.

Since losing her daughter, Heather's mum Julie Ryan has worked tirelessly to raise funds and awareness, and has since set up the Heather Preen Trust in her memory.

The research funded by Julie's generous £24,000 donation should provide a better understanding of why some children develop HUS, and offer answers on how it can be treated.

Julie said: "There are no words to describe how I’m feeling right now. I’m just really grateful that Heather won’t have died in vain."

After discovering that other children who had been on the same beach as Heather also become unwell, Julie was determined to make a difference.

She added: "Heather was playing on the beach, she was doing what we all do, we all take our children to the beach to have fun. I just thought I can’t allow this to happen again. I need to let people know it happened to her. I can’t let her just fade away."

Julie described her daughter, who had been a student at Rednal Hill Junior School, as a 'very shy little girl' but said if the same had happened to one of Heather's friends, she would have wanted to take action and help.

Sandra Currie, chief executive of Kidney Research UK, who managed the funding, said: "Julie has worked so hard to ensure that other families won’t suffer like hers has. We are delighted that the money raised in Heather’s name has helped unlock further investment from the National Institute for Health Research who are funding the main clinical trial.

"Both the trial and the genetic research will be now be able to provide even more information to help combat this disease which can cause such devastation."

To find out more, visit kidneyresearchuk.org.uk.