GAZETTE & HERALD: A NINE-year-old girl whose life was ruined after she was allegedly starved of oxygen when she was born at Chippenham Hospital is suing the NHS trust for potentially massive compensation.

Sophie Williams, who now lives in Pontypool, suffers from severe and complex difficulties and will remain totally dependent on others for the rest of her life.

Now, in a writ issued at London's High Court, her mother Joanne Williams is claiming damages from West Wiltshire Primary Care Trust.

If Sophie had been delivered just 10 minutes earlier on February 19 1995, her intellect would largely have been spared and she would have kept some use of her hands, according to the writ.

And it claims if she had been born 23 minutes earlier, it is likely she would have no problems.

Mrs Williams says she went to Greenways Maternity Unit at Chippenham Hospital believing she was in labour, but was sent home on February 18 1995.

She returned later that day, and when Sophie was born at 11.23am the next day she needed resuscitating.

She was given a special tube in her lungs to help her breathe and began breathing spontaneously 35 minutes after her birth.

Later that day she was transferred to the neonatal intensive care unit at Bath's Royal United Hospital. Sophie was discharged home on March 3 1995 after being diagnosed with hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy.

The writ accuses the Trust of breaching its duty by failing to keep adequate records of her and her mother's condition, failing to respond to signs of possible foetal distress, failing to detect changes which showed she was possibly being deprived of oxygen and failing to advise an emergency delivery with forceps or vacuum extraction.

It also says the Trust did not manage her delivery with reasonable care and skill and caused Sophie injuries.

The writ gives no indication of the level of damages sought but cases of this nature, if successful, invariably attract awards running into millions of pounds.