Family's heartbreak after terminally-ill tot's death

Amelia Morris died yesterday, having suffered with Tay-Sachs disease, which affects the brain signals and causes seizures and mobility problems, since her birth in 2012.

The four-year-old’s mother Whitney announced her daughter’s tragic death online.

Whitney, from Beech Hill, wrote: “Every word I am writing is breaking me in pieces.

“Yesterday Amelia passed away in my arms. Hurts so much what she had been through she never deserved any of it.

“She was my first born and my world. Miss my baby girl so much.”

Sadly there is no cure for the disease, which carries a life expectancy of two to four years.

People across the borough have taken Amelia into their hearts in recent years.

She won both the best dressed and Miss Popularity categories in this year’s Miss Wigan competition, a pageant for youngsters which raises funds for Wigan And Leigh Hospice. For Amelia’s third birthday, the family’s home was covered in bright festive lights thanks to generous members of the public and businesses.

And in November 2015, she pushed the button at Wigan’s Christmas lights switch-on with her mum.

Family, friends and even firefighters from Wigan fire station’s red watch joined in the birthday celebrations.

Tay-Sachs is a extremely rare genetic disorder, which causes the deterioration of mental and physical abilities.

Symptoms emerge from around six months of age and sufferers rarely live past their fourth birthday.