IT has been a tough four months for little Bo August who has battled against an extremely rare condition brought on by chicken pox.

The brave four-year-old has spent two-and-a-half months in hospital after contracting purpura fulminans due to protein S deficiency during a normal bout of chickenpox.

Running around with her friends at Little Lodge Nursery School, little Bo looks the picture of health but at the start of the year the little girl's legs had turned almost completely black as the pox's antibodies caused the deficiency which led to her blood not being able to clot.

Bo, from Foxwell Street, Worcester, has undergone three skin grafts between March and April while her parents Julia and Dan were told she could have lost her life or a limb.

Mum Julia wanted to highlight the condition to make other parents aware as the family, including two-year-old brother Hunter, visited the nursery in Swinesherd, near Spetchley, for a special presentation.

Staff, parents and pupils had clubbed together to donate more than £200 to buy Bo a playhouse and wanted to give her a special welcome on her return to preschool.

Talking about the moment Bo was diagnosed, her 32-year-old mum said: "It was literally the worst moment of my life.

"I asked the doctor if it could be life-threatening and he said it was life and limb-threatening.

"At that point we thought she might face amputation but she has been amazing.

"I'm just so amazed by how strong she's been throughout it all.

"She's always been very feisty and known her own mind since she was a baby and is very much a leader so I think that helped her through it."

After catching chickenpox in February, Bo began complaining her legs were hurting and her parents noticed she was finding walking difficult.

On the evening of February 25, after a second visit to the doctor's, she started to bruise and NHS Helpline 111 sent an ambulance to take the little girl to Worcestershire Royal Hospital Accident and Emergency where she was admitted to the children's ward.

The next morning her horrified parents found the black bruises had covered both legs.

Fortunately, a consultant had heard of the condition and sent her to Birmingham Children's Hospital where doctors confirmed it and she was taken into intensive care.

As well as the skin grafts, Bo was given plasma exchanges and had a central line put in her neck as well as given about 12 general anaesthetics.

She learned how to walk again, spending some time in a wheelchair, and will have to wear compression tights for the next year.

Despite all of this, Bo remains a happy and confident little girl who has chosen to show her nursery friends her scars.

Staff at Little Lodge have been amazed at Bo's progress and the thoughtfulness of the other children taking care of their friend.

Mrs August has urged any parent worried about their children's reaction to chickenpox to ask their doctor for a blood test.

"Doctors will be able to tell the levels of protein from the blood and it would be caught in time.

"We caught Bo in time but I look back and wish we had asked for a blood test earlier."

Little Lodge owner Jane Jones called Bo a "very, very special little girl" during a speech to the staff and children at the presentation.

"She is one very brave and special girl.

"She's been through so much and not just her, but her brother Hunter and mum and dad have too.

"Bo's such a fighter and she is so strong."