A BROTHER and sister will be getting covered in mud to raise money for a little girl with a rare illness after reading about her plight in the Echo.

Sarah Gleeson, 37, of Sherwood Close, Langdon Hills, and Alex Gleeson, 35, of Long Riding, Basildon, will join hundreds of people taking part in the Maldon Mud Race on December 28.

They are raising money for seven-year-old Daisy Palmer, who suffers from chronic intestinal pseudo obstruction, meaning she has to be fed intravenously.

Last week the Echo reported how Daisy was back at home in Burrs Close, Langdon Hills, after an eight-month stay at the Royal London Hospital, in Whitechapel.

But she still has to be hooked up to a drip for 14 hours a day to get the nutrition she needs and suffers from weak muscle and joint pains. Because the condition is so rare, the National Health Service does not fund research into finding a cure.

Ms Gleeson had already signed up for the madcap race when she read about Daisy, a pupil at Great Berry Primary School, in Langdon Hills.

Ms Gleeson said: “My children go to the same school and I had been thinking about which local charity I wanted to run for, so when I heard about Daisy I knew this was the right cause.”

The mud race first took place in 1973 and is run across the River Blackwater at Maldon when the tide is out. If you would like to make a donation, visit www.justgiving.com/Sarah-Gleeson or www.justgiving.com/AlexGleeson