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In February we urged readers to help Freya Lou Campbell, one of only 200 in the country with the condition Moebius syndrome. The four-year-old’s facial nerves are paralysed, leaving her unable to talk, smile or blink. And her muscles are too weak to walk or eat properly.

Kind-hearted readers responded after Freya’s family said they needed £5,000 for a vibrating-plate Galileo machine – not available on the NHS – to boost her movement.

Mum Sophie Lock, 24, of Horwich in Greater Manchester, said: “Without the Daily Express and their readers this may never have happened.

“Raising the money was daunting but we’ve been amazed and humbled by the generosity of strangers.

“Getting this machine was out of our reach before so when it arrived we were in tears. It was very emotional.

“Freya has been using it for a week and only for 10 minutes a day at the moment as you have to gradually introduce it. The vibrations shake the whole house, that’s how powerful it is and we’ve been using it on her legs, feet, arms and body.

“She giggles when she uses it, which is her way of showing joy as she cannot physically smile, and we have also noticed her arms moved easier.”

Sophie, and Freya’s dad Michael Campbell, 25, had never heard of Moebius syndrome when doctors diagnosed her aged five months.

She was born with bowels on the outside, requiring complex surgery, and did not leave Manchester’s St Mary’s Hospital until nine months old.

The neurological condition means Freya has to be on a ventilator at night and, due to a club foot, sleeps with a boots-and-bar brace. She has to be fed via a tube into her stomach.

Hairdresser Sophie said their daughter has an amazing personality but gets frustrated as she struggles to express herself. She said: “Although she cannot physically smile, she has a laugh that lights up your day and takes all our problems away.

“She has a naughty little giggle and kicks her legs when she’s excited and happy. She loves us rolling about with her and just being a bit daft.” The Galileo machine stimulates her muscles and teaches her to balance herself so she can learn to step and walk while boosting muscle tone too.

Sophie said: “She can’t communicate verbally so sometimes its hard for me to know what she wants. Freya cannot speak or even sit unaided. Her upper body strength is like a baby’s.”

She added: “We hope in time it will make a huge difference to Freya and are so thankful to all who donated.”

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