A five-year-old who has a rare form of epilepsy suffers from so many seizures she is one of the most vulnerable children in Kent.

Bethany Richards-Allen from Broadstairs spent the first two years of her life in specialist hospitals in London due to having multiple severe seizures that were so bad, they caused her to stop breathing and sometimes for her heart to stop.

The youngster, who loves Disney princesses and music, is non-verbal, non-mobile, visually impaired and suffers from a respiratory disease which makes it difficult for her to breathe.

It means she requires highly specialised care 24 hours a day and doctors have labelled her one of the most vulnerable children in the county.

While Bethany has a dedicated team of nurses and a complex carer, mum Michelle Richards, 41, and dad Will Allen, 42, who are both teachers, have had to give up work to make sure Bethany has the constant care she needs.

Her father told KentOnline: “Bethany is such a happy little girl and she smiles a lot despite everything she has been through.

“She likes to paint and to listen to music and has become very tolerant.

“She goes to Foreland Fields School in Ramsgate and we try to send her there as much as we can but it's not always possible if there are any colds about.

“If she catches a cold more often than not she needs to be ventilated.”

Bethany also loves interacting with her younger siblings Bailey, two and Belle, five months.

In 2018, Bethany was not breathing when she was born at the QEQM hospital in Margate and needed to be resuscitated.

She had to be transferred to St Thomas’ Hospital in London to have life-saving surgery and was eventually sent to the Evelina Children’s Hospital where she spent the following two years between the neurological ward and intensive care.

During this time Bethany had daily seizures and needed resuscitation after each one by a team of up to 10 doctors, consultants and anaesthetists.

She once had 42 life-threatening seizures in a week and needed to have 14 invasive operations to try to stabilise her condition.

Just before her second birthday, the family received a nursing package enabling Bethany to have specialist teams with her 24/7 which meant she was finally able to come home.

But even now, every few months Bethany catches a virus which she struggles to cope with and is admitted to intensive care where she has to fight for her life.

She was diagnosed with Type 2 respiratory disease last year and has had six intensive care admissions in the past two years, all requiring life support.

Bethany’s condition also causes her to have sleep apnea so she can sometimes stop breathing up to 50 times in one night.

When this happens, nursing staff have to stimulate her and give her oxygen meaning she needs to be monitored carefully even when sleeping.

The specialist equipment Bethany requires means the family’s electricity bill for their home in St Peter’s is high.

Costly adaptations to the house to make it more suitable for Bethany have also cost the family huge amounts of money which along with giving up work has made it difficult for them financially.

Mr Allen explained: “Michelle gave up work straight away when Bethany was born and I went part-time, but I can only really go in one day a week now but my employer has been brilliant and is always understanding.

“It’s hard because sometimes nurses call in sick so we have to cover the shifts last minute which makes things difficult for us financially.

“We’ve got high electricity bills because Bethany has a lot of specialist equipment and taking her on days out is hard because we have to pay for the family and her staff too.

“We won’t ever be able to go abroad with her so we would really like to take her to Center Parcs and on a few more days out.

“We don’t want money to be the reason we can’t enrich her life.

“Thankfully a lot of her equipment is funded, like her wheelchair, but there are a few extra bits she needs which are not cheap like sensory equipment.”

To support the family financially, Bethany’s aunties Shara and Charmain have started a GoFundMe page with the aim of raising £20,000.

Shara Richards said: “Bethany is very sassy, is always laughing and is very cheeky.

“Her illness is terminal and her life expectancy is very low so we don't know how much time we have left with her.

“It's hard for them as a family to do normal day-to-day activities so we’re hoping the money will help take away the financial pressure so they can take Bethany on days out and make memories.

“The money will help them out in lots of ways.”

So far almost £3,000 has been raised towards the target.

Mr Allen says his family has been overwhelmed by the generous support.