'Amazing' Santa steam train for young patients

Verity was pictured with Santa and Mrs Claus

The mother of a six-year-old girl with a a rare genetic neurodevelopmental condition said a festive rail trip for young hospital patients was "amazing".

Verity, who has CDKL5, was among 280 young patients from across the West Midlands and their families who went on the Santa train at Chasewater steam railway.

Mother Sarah, from Coseley, said it was "such a sensory experience" for her daughter, who had daily seizures, was non-verbal, registered blind and a full-time wheelchair user.

The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust Charity said many patients on the train on Sunday "spend an awful lot of time in hospital".

Sarah added she would not usually choose to go on a steam train with Verity "'cos I just wouldn't think it was accessible, but it completely was".

"They'd done the station up amazing, all the lights, the tinsel. It was such a sensory experience for Verity, hearing the steam train."

The mother said the family were given a large carriage.

"So it was... lovely, just a family event and being in the environment it was as well we were looking out the windows and we could see deer running around outside."

The family were outside the train, with mother Sarah and Verity in the middle with Sarah's husband David and other children (left to right) Sienna, Joseph and Sofia

Sarah said big days out were quite hard to arrange, with the family "having to make sure that places we go [to] have amenities for her or we've got to take extra equipment".

"But it was so nice, so we really treasure these opportunities."

Amanda Winwood, charity development manager at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, said: "It was magical... Seeing the smiles on their faces was amazing. It made the planning all worthwhile."

She added Chasewater "made everything accessible".

"We'd got cubicles that we could put our oncology patients in who are immunocompromised so as not to cause any cross-infection.

"We had cystic fibrosis children and we could only have one of those on each train, so we had five trains running [on Sunday].

"So a lot of careful planning... took that pressure off the families so that they could enjoy [it] and make those magic memories."