A WORCESTER mother faced her fears by whizzing down a zip line to raise funds for sick and premature children.

Bex Forrest undertook the zip wire challenge on Sunday (August 14), after her daughter received help from the charity Cots for Tots.

Mrs Forrest raised more than £1,000 for the charity, which housed her and her husband for three weeks during their daughter's health difficulties.

The home proved invaluable as it was opposite the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) where the couple's daughter, Willow Rose, was being cared for.

"Without Cots and Tots we would have been stuck. There were no beds in the hospital," she said.

"I wanted to give something back to them and so I just did a zip wire even though I'm scared of heights.

"I was shaking when I finished, I launched from a 70m cliff. It was above a flooded quarry in Chestow and is one of the longest zip lines in the country."

Willow Rose's heart stopped beating during her birth but returned eight minutes later after resuscitation.

The baby was given 'cooling therapy' by a specialist team, to reduce her risk of disability and brain damage.

The team lowered the baby's temperature from 37 degrees to 33.5 degrees, which was followed by almost two weeks in the NICU.

Mrs Forrest said no one knows what caused her daughter's heart to stop beating.

"It was, without question, the most traumatic experience of our lives," Mrs Forrest said.

"You don't think anything like this is going to happen to you, I never thought about a birth going wrong.

"It was however made so much easier by knowing such a great team were caring for Willow."

Mrs Forrest also said the free residency offered by Cots for Tots opposite the St Michael's Hospital, in Bristol, was a great help.

The couple and some of their friends and family donated money to Cots for Tots after they left the house.

"I feel relief that things are okay now. I can't thank people enough, it took me a long time to get over," she said.

"One of the ways I found to get over it is raising money for the charity."

The hospital told Mrs Forrest that brain damage may show up when Willow, who is now 15 months old, starts school.

"You can't think like that though. She's very lucky," Mrs Forrest said.

The family are raising funds for Cots for Tots via an online donation page.

Cots for Tots run the house opposite the hospital and also fund equipment and facilities for children at St Michael's Hospital.

Willow Rose was born in Gloucester Hospital on April 20 2015 with her mother wanting to do something every year to raise money for the charity.