A GRANDMOTHER has expressed her gratitude to local people who rallied to raise more than £30,000.

The cash, raised with the help of a Citizen campaign, helped to keep her grandson alive for 18 years.

Iain Orton died last week of leukaemia - even though he was only given a week to live at the time he was born.

Iain suffered from a rare kidney disease but his family were ready to fight for his life from day one.

His grandmother Betty Brierley, of Bare, swung into action immediately and began fund raising.

That was more than 17 years ago, and after hearing about her plight, the Citizen launched a campaign jto help. Mrs Brierley says the cash snowballed' in.

Iain was only one week old when his battle with the congenital kidney disease nephritic syndrome began and Mrs Brierley says the family were told to take him home and love him because he was not expected to live.

He was the first person known to have survived and successfully battle against the disease.

" We started doing all sorts of fundraising things and the money just poured in from people in Lancaster and Morecambe. The Citizen ran a campaign and we got about £12,000 through it. Me and family and friends did other fundraisers and got about £25,000.

"The fact that we managed to get the money so quickly made a massive difference because it bought equipment and meant we could help Iain straight away."

She says the family were so proud of Iain, adding: "He had dialysis and the money which was raised meant he could have the equipment that he needed. Then when he was four his mum Linda donated one of her kidneys to him.

"We were always told that he would develop slower, but he didn't, he was one step ahead of the game all the time. From the day that he had that transplant he never looked back.

"People were so generous and the money gave him a head start in life despite being told he would only have a week. He would not have had that chance without them."

Iain lived in Cockermouth, Cumbria, but spent most of his first four years in Lancaster with the grandmother he called nanny'.

The former Morecambe Road Primary teacher said she took him to playschool and tumble tots so he would not miss out.

But after leading a normal life for years things took a turn for the worse the day before his 18th birthday November 20 - when he was taken to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Newcastle to be treated for kidney disease.

It was first though that his body may have rejected the kidney but a scan revealed that he had lymphoma.

"It was a great shock and straight away I jumped in the car and went to Newcastle," says Mrs Brierley. "It was very hard when he died but he has not died in vain. He was the first person to survive the kidney disease and the way that he was treated when he was younger will continue to save other people I just want to say thank you to everyone who helped and may remember Iain."