The parents of a young girl with epilepsy have spoken of their gratitude for the family of a popular Helston footballer whose thoughtful actions at a time of grief could potentially save their daughter's life.

Money collected at the funeral of Porthleven FC player Andrew Trathen, who died from a heart attack at home in Helston in August, was given by his widow Sharon to the family of little Evie Parker.

Sharon has know Evie's father Scott since he was a young boy and the families have stayed in touch.

Following his shock death earlier this year, £860 was collected at his funeral. This was made up to £900 by Scott and used to buy a specialist monitor for seven-year-old Evie, who was diagnosed with a brain tumour aged just eight weeks old.

Although doctors successfully managed to remove the tumour, Evie was left with epilepsy and is at risk of fitting at any time.

Currently she shares a bedroom with her parents at their house in Porthleven, after she previously suffered a fit at night that was not discovered until morning, when there was blood all over her pillow due to her biting her tongue and cheeks.

However, thanks to her new pulse sensor, the risks of further injury are now greatly reduced. She now wears the sensor on her wrist or leg at night, which sends signals to an iPad and records her heart rate. If this goes above or below a certain level - a symptom of an epileptic fit - an alarm goes off, alerting Evie's parents to the danger and allowing them to go to her aid, putting her safely in the recovery position until the fit has passed or calling for medical help if required.

Already the monitor has twice alerted them to Evie suffering a seizure, which is not always immediately apparently as she does not always suffer the jerked movements that can be characteristic of an epileptic fit.

Her father Scott, a staff nurse in medical admissions at the Royal Cornwall Hospital, said: "It means an awful lot to us, as we know when Evie's asleep she's safe at night.

"As a whole family we're very, very grateful for the generosity of donations from the family and people who attended the funeral."

He added that he and his wife Emma were particularly blown away by such a thoughtful gesture from the family at such a tragic time, adding: "How you can think of someone else like that is amazing."

Sharon said that although her husband had only met Evie a couple of times she had made a big impression on him.

"He just found her such an inspiration and from what she's been through, she's always smiling. That's why we decided the money would benefit her," she added.