THE bravery of a little boy who was struck down by meningitis is being recognised with a campaign to give him a great Christmas.

Staff at Hays Travel, in Bishop Auckland, who have been touched by the plight of 14-month-old Cameron Murray, have launched an appeal to make sure the youngster will be surrounded by a stack of wonderful gifts on Christmas morning.

Cameron developed the disease in June. Doctors had to tell his parents, Leanne Murray and Alex Howe, of High Etherley, near Bishop Auckland, the devastating news that he needed some of his limbs amputating.

Although Cameron had to lose his left foot and hand, his right fingers and half his right leg, it doesn't stop him getting up to mischief with his five-year-old brother Andrew.

He reached another milestone in his young life on Wednesday when the family collected an artificial leg from the limb centre at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle.

His grandmother, Marilyn Murray, said: "He didn't cry or anything. He just took to it, he was so brave.

"He's doing really well at the moment. It's marvellous the way people are helping him. We can be walking down the street and people will come up and ask after him. It's lovely."

The appeal, entitled Cameron's Christmas, has already secured the youngster and his family a trip to Lapland to meet Santa Claus next month.

Hays Travel is also appealing to businesses to donate goods for a raffle. Proceeds from a shopping trip to Leeds run by Stockton coach company Alpha will also be donated.

Elizabeth Maddison, manager of Hays Travel, who is working on the appeal with assistant manger Lisa Metcalfe, said: "We were all touched by Cameron's story in The Northern Echo. We just wanted to make sure he had the best Christmas ever."

Toft Hill Methodist Church has set up a trust fund for the youngster and St Cuthbert's Church, Etherley, has donated £185 from their harvest festival