Battling baby Sophie Chappell is the best Christmas present her parents could have wished for.

Four-month-old Sophie's life hung in the balance as she fought a rare, potentially-fatal form of meningitis.

Mum and dad Claire and Shaun were not planning any festive celebrations.

There were no presents or decorations at their home in Carden Avenue, Brighton, because they feared there would be no cause for happiness this year.

But, against the odds, their daughter has pulled through and is now back at home.

Sophie was just a few months old when she contracted pneumococcal meningitis.

The disease is rare, accounting for only a tenth of bacterial meningitis cases in Britain each year. It has a high fatality rate.

Mrs Chappell, 30, and husband Shaun, 35, realised something was wrong at the end of last month.

Mrs Chappell said: "Sophie wouldn't settle and was very irritable. She was also very sleepy and began being sick."

The couple took Sophie to their GP, who referred them to the Royal Alexandra Hospital for Sick Children in Brighton. Sophie underwent a series of tests and was placed under observation.

In the early hours of the next morning, the couple received a phone call telling them she had meningitis.

Mrs Chappell said: "The phone rang at about 2.30am and when you get a call at that time you think the worst. The doctor told me she had meningitis and had had a few fits.

"It didn't seem real - I couldn't believe it."

The couple rushed to the hospital where Sophie suffered another fit and was moved into the intensive care unit. After a few hours, doctors said she needed to be transferred to Guy's Hospital in London.

A specially-equipped ambulance travelled from London to pick her up.

At Guy's, neurological experts carried out intensive tests, including a brain scan and a test in which fluid is drawn from around the baby's brain by a needle. The outcome determines the baby's chance of survival.

Mrs Chappell said: "The doctor came back at about 11pm and said it wasn't good news."

Sophie was transferred to King's College Hospital in London, where neurosurgeons cut open the top of her head from ear-to-ear to relieve the pressure on her brain and drain poisonous fluid in a four-hour operation to save her life.

After the operation, she went back into intensive care.

Mrs Chappell said: "We thought we might lose her a couple of times. I found it difficult to take. She is our only child and was covered in tubes on a ventilator."

But Sophie, who was born at the Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton, on July 28, hung on.

Mrs Chappell said: "She is a real fighter and doctors have been amazed.

"It's our first Christmas with her and it's going to be special because, at some points, we didn't think she would be with us."

Sophie is receiving antibiotics but is on the road to a full recovery.

The couple have even bought a few Christmas presents.