Funeral costs for little Ella Dee

Tragically eight-year-old Ella Dee died on Tuesday as she waited for a second heart transplant.

The courageous little girl lost her battle for life in the arms of her mum of dad.

This funding appeal has been set up to help mum Alice Holton and dad Darren Dee pay for a send-off fit for their “precious angel.”

Her mum said: “She was so loved by everyone. Her character touched so many. Her smile lit up the room.

"She suffered so much pain but at last she's at peace now.”

Ella, from Middlesbrough, was diagnosed with a major heart defect while still in the womb.

After she was born she was transferred to the Freeman in Newcastle where, at just three weeks old, she had heart surgery. Further surgery followed but, by 2012, doctors were becoming increasingly worried.

She was put on the NHS Organ Donor Register and, seven months later, a heart was found. Soon after her op in May 2015 Ella was back at home and back at school.

But last month, she came down with a bug and her heart rate plummeted.

She died in the Freeman on Tuesday, in the arms of her devastated parents.