THE bravery and determination of Rosalie Sullivan since her devastating accident has amazed and impressed everyone who has had dealings with the sparkling teenager.

Two years ago doctors doubted she would even survive the road accident which left her with crippling physical and mental injuries.

But she defied medical opinion and after ten weeks in a coma and six months in hospital, she staggered everyone by returning almost immediately to Cartmel Priory School and even managed to complete three GCSE exams.

Her ambitions don't end there.

She now has her heart set on a university education.

But her cheerful and gutsy efforts to lead as normal a life as possible should not disguise the difficulties she faces.

The most obvious one is her need for mobility.

Her devoted mother, who along with the doctor, nurses, teachers and friends deserve congratulations for giving Rosalie support, still has to heave her daughter around on a wheelchair.

What would transform both their lives is an electric chair.

But there is such a waiting list for them that it could be years before they reach the front of the queue.

What a marvellous gesture it would be if readers of this newspaper, noted for their generosity for worthy causes, could make it possible to have the electric chair before Christmas.

It would give renewed impetus to Rosalie's rehabilitation and the independence her character craves.

Already the manufacturers Pride and Kendal suppliers Advanced Mobility have given a substantial discount.

Any donation, large or small, would help reward Rosalie and give her another huge nudge on the road to recovery.

Difficult delivery

PLANS for the future of Helme Chase Maternity Unit have been thrown back into the melting pot as one unelected health body, Morecambe Bay Health Authority, has told another, Morecambe Bay Hospitals NHS Trust, that more public consultation is needed before any decision is taken.

The idea of consultation has been widely welcomed by interested parties, including the Royal College of Midwives and the South Cumbria Community Health Council, the local NHS watchdog.

But it is bemusing to people outside the health service why so many bodies have to be involved.

The solution of making it a midwife-led service, while medically-difficult cases were transferred to Lancaster, seemed ideal.

Presumably the hospital trust took into account the needs of Lancaster and Furness for which it is also responsible.

The other options, which the authority now wants to explore, have already been rejected by the trust's working party.

We hope it is not a case of the authority rejecting all plans which do not include what it really wants, the unit's closure.

It quotes falling birth rates as one of the reasons for ordering a rethink.

This is strangely ironic, as the unit is in the heart of South Kendal, an area of considerable population growth, including young families.