Staffordshire: Girl with dementia takes on walking challenge

A six-year-old girl who has a rare form of childhood dementia has been walking 1km a day to raise awareness of other youngsters with the same disease.

Penny Mills, from Stafford, has a condition called Sanfilippo Syndrome for which there is currently no cure.

She will complete her challenge of walking 8km (5 miles) over eight days on Friday, the day she also celebrates her eighth birthday.

Her walking has so far raised over £500 for charity, her family said.

The funds will go to the Society for Mucopolysaccharide Diseases (MPS Society), a charity which helps children living with Sanfilippo Syndrome - about 140 in the UK - and similar conditions.

Penny's mother, Kelly, said she had noticed a decline in her daughter's posture in the past few months, but the walking challenge had helped her mobility.

"She struggles to hold herself up and it's affecting her joints as well as her mobility and she struggles to get up off the floor," she said.

"She can't come down the stairs very easily and she gets very, very tired on walks. She's been doing really well."

Steve Cotterrell, from the MPS Society, praised Penny's "huge achievement".

"I know Penny has worked particularly hard to achieve this," he added.

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