A LITTLE girl will soon be able to do her homework safely and in comfort again - thanks to the donation of a special chair.

Umm e Habibah Tariq, known as Habibah to her family, has muscular dystrophy.

She has dislocated hips and has to be fed through a tube in her stomach, using a wheelchair to get about at Priory School in Orchard Avenue, Burnham.

Her mother says by the time she gets home she is very tired and struggles to keep herself upright.

Now, thanks to a specialist chair donated by Newlife the charity for disabled children and Marks and Spencer, she will soon be able to sit up in comfort at the Maidenhead home.

Mum Salma Bibi, 32, says: “We did have a functional chair at home for Habibah but it wasn’t very comfortable and she couldn’t sit in it for any length of time. Now she sits on the sofa, surrounded by cushions, but still has to concentrate on sitting upright – and then she can’t concentrate on things like her homework.

“Her physiotherapy team tell us she needs a specialist chair that is both comfortable and posturally supportive – but this particular equipment isn’t available through local statutory services.”

Now thanks to Newlife and M and S, she has a new chair that is electrically powered so that Habibah can be repositioned for comfort and safety at the touch of a button. It will support her whole body – and because it is on wheels she will be able to use it anywhere in the house she shares with her mum, dad Doctor Imran Tariq, 36, brother Mustafa, seven and sister Zunaira, four.

Mum Salma added: “Habibah has regular stays in hospital; the chair will go with her so she has an alternative to lying in bed all day as there is no equipment of this sort available on the ward.”

Habibah is in hospital at the moment but hopes to be home soon and able to start using her new chair.

Meanwhile she has plans for when she grows up.

Her mum said: "She wants to be a doctor so she can help people."