Sally Slater, the six-year-old who was given just hours to live before a heart transplant saved her life, takes another big step on the road to recovery when she returns to school today.

It is more than five months since Sally, from Kirkby Malham, in North Yorkshire, was pictured in her hospital bed clinging to life after being struck down by a virus which attacked her heart muscles.

With hope running out, her parents' desperate public appeals for a donor were answered by an anonymous family.

Yesterday, Sally smiled as she posed for the cameras in her new school uniform ahead of her return to the classroom this morning.

She said her favourite part of school was writing, and she was looking forward to composing essays.

But she gave little else away, obviously eager to get back with her friends at Kirkby in Malhamdale United Aided Primary School.

Sally's return to school is another major step for the youngster and her parents, Jon and Bridget, both 36, who have described the last few months as a ''real rollercoaster''.

They took the decision to appeal through the media for a donor when Sally's condition deteriorated.

Mrs Slater said: ''Realistically, I guess we never thought we would see the day when she would return to school.

"Obviously, there was a time when we thought this would never happen.

''We think she is up to going back to school, but if Sally feels she isn't up to it at any time, then she will come back home.''

Mrs Slater said: ''The last few months have felt like a long time, but the summer has flown by.

''She's a lot better than she was, physically. Although she is not 100 per cent, she is getting there.

''But she always has the risk of catching an infection because her immune system has been suppressed for so long.''

Sally has regular check-ups to monitor her progress, and doctors have been delighted with the recovery she has made.

Her next milestone will be in two weeks' time, when she celebrates her seventh birthday.

Sally will also be the guest of honour at a celebrity-packed fundraising ball on October 28, as part of a campaign to raise £40,000 to buy a plastic heart similar to the one that saved her life.

The family said donations for the appeal could be paid into any branch of the Skipton Building Society