THE family of a Pontllanfraith girl who survived meningitis are warning parents to look out for signs of the disease.

This week is meningitis awareness week, and although Amber Murphy, 10, has made a full recovery since she fell ill in June 2002, she could have lost her life if her family had not acted quickly.

Amber, then three, had been quiet and withdrawn all day but an out-of-hours doctor told her mother, Suzanne Roberts, she had a virus.

That evening Amber vomited and when Ms Roberts changed her clothes she noticed a purple rash on her skin.

Amber was rushed to Newport's Royal Gwent Hospital and within half an hour her organs were shutting down.

She was transferred to the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff where she was put on a life support machine and remained in a critical condition for three days.

Amber amazed doctors by pulling through and seven years on she is a keen kickboxer- winning three bronze medals at last week’s European Championships in Rome.

Her grandmother June Roberts said: "Parents must look out for the signs and act quickly because if we’d listened to the first doctor’s diagnosis it might have been too late.

"If you’re worried take them to hospital."

The signs include cold feet and hands, a dislike of light, not wanting to eat or drink and a rash.

People are most at risk of meningitis during the winter months, with the majority of dangerous bacterial forms striking due to weakened immune systems and germs spreading more easily.

For more information call the Meningitis Research Foundation on 0808 800 3344.