A MOTHER is taking her fight to a European court to determine why her daughter died.

Linda Hill says she has exhausted all legal avenues in this country in her campaign to find out the circumstances surrounding the death of her daughter, Jodey Slater, in July 1997.

But she has vowed to continue her struggle, and plans to contact the European Court of Human Rights.

Six-year-old Jodey, who had an illness so rare it had no name, died after suffering from swelling on the brain.

When she fell ill, she was taken to Bishop Auckland General Hospital, and later transferred to Newcastle.

Mrs Hill says she knew Jodey was desperately ill when she was first admitted and pleaded with staff to transfer her sooner for specialist care.

An independent review panel's report suggested that even if Jodey had been transferred earlier, the outcome would have been the same.

Mrs Hill said: "This was my child, a six-year-old little girl who had everything to live for.

"If she had died in Newcastle I could have lived with it, but I can't live with her lying in Bishop for three-and-a-half days and nothing happening."

Explaining her decision to carry on the legal battle, she said: "I still don't know why she died, or how she died.

"The hardest bit for me is I can't grieve for my daughter because I can't think of the nice times.

"I'm not on a crusade for Jodey, I just don't want it to happen to somebody else's child."

A spokeswoman for South Durham Health Care NHS Trust said: "This is a litigation case which is still ongoing, so we are not able to comment.