BIG-HEARTED fundraisers have come to the rescue of a pint-sized Houdini kept escaping from her child's car seat.

Little Lowri Edwards has Down's syndrome and hypermobility which made it almost impossible for her to travel by car.

The four-year-old is double-jointed and has floppy muscles which means she can easily wriggle out of normal child seats.

Lowri's escapology tricks led to her being nicknamed 'The Little Houdini', but made even simple car journeys to school or vital hospital appointments a nightmare for her family.

Mum Haylie Shuttleworth was desperate to get a specialist car seat to give Lowri extra support and stop her slumping.

But the kit costs a whopping £1,250 so she turned to disabled children's charity Newlife for help.

Haylie, of Bockings Grove, Clacton, was astonished by the response after the Gazette highlighted her daughter's plight in May.

Supporters dug deep to help the appeal and now they have hit their target in less than a month.

“We would like to thank everyone who donated so Lowri can have this specialist car seat," said Haylie.

"It happened so quickly too, I was so surprised by it all.

“Having this will be fabulous. We’ll be able to go all over the place – places we couldn’t before as she wasn’t safe or comfortable in the car.

"This seat will be so much better for her as she will have all the extra support she needs, so she will be comfortable and pain free.”

Haylie had been worried Lowri was rapidly reaching the stage where she couldn’t use her car seat at all, which would prevent her attending her Shorefields Special School, several miles away from home.

Now she will be able to travel with brothers Joshua, 17, Billy, 14 – who has learning difficulties – and seven-year-old sister Kelsey.

Haylie added: “This specialist car seat will make a huge difference to us and it should last her until the age of 12, so it will be the only one she needs.

"She won’t be able to slip out of the straps of the car seat and the swivel base will help her get safely into her wheelchair.

"It's fabulous and makes life so much easier. You wonder how on earth you managed before."