Coronavirus: Mum creates bedroom jungle for daughter's birthday

A mother who posted pictures of her daughter's jungle bedroom transformation on social media said she has been "overwhelmed" by the response.

Aurora Eaton's sixth birthday party was cancelled because of the lockdown.

Instead, Jodie Eaton, from Ipswich, created the sensory jungle for her daughter who has a visual impairment.

Aurora said her favourites were the tigers and snake - and gave her mother a "million out of 10" for the transformation.

Mrs Eaton said the post has been liked by more than 23,000 people, with about 2,000 comments.

Aurora, whose birthday is on 23 April, had requested a party in a bakery.

When it had to be cancelled Mrs Eaton and husband Aaron offered to redecorate her bedroom instead - and a jungle was requested.

The drama teacher said it was lucky she was able to get everything she needed before the lockdown began.

"I would do an hour of school work with the girls - and then fit in an hour here and there over three weeks to create the bedroom," she said.

"I'm usually an outdoors person so having this to do in the first three weeks really helped."

Aurora, who has a visual impairment called microphthalmia, needed a bunk bed with a staircase rather than a ladder.

A friend sold them a second-hand bed - and the transformation, including the bed, cost less than £100.

Mrs Eaton believed the planned party would have cost the family between £200 and £300.

She added: "One of the loveliest things is that after the photos were posted, six or seven people with children with microphthalmia got in touch, so we've made that connection."

Microphthalmia is an impairment in which one or both eyeballs are unusually small.

Mrs Eaton said: "Aurora goes to Moorfields Eye Hospital every six months for a new glass eye and also has poor sight in her other eye - so she's a brave one and feisty."