A HEXHAM mum has created an ‘army of knitters’ for premature babies at the RVI in Newcastle - as a way of thanking the hospital that helped her newborn daughter.

Sophie Leveratt, 30, saw the importance of the knitted octopus when one was given to her daughter, Lara, who was born with gastroschisis – a rare birth defect of the abdominal wall.

Sophie said: “My daughter was placed into special care at the RVI and on ward 9, so she was given the octopus for comfort. “They are a comfort aid as its tentacles resemble the umbilical cord and, with the tentacles to hold, babies are less likely to pull out monitoring equipment and cables attached to their bodies.”

Now Lara is three months old, Sophie wanted to help create knitted friends for the ward after her own experience and enlisted her family at first.

But then she threw the appeal wider and asked on social media if anyone would help. She hs been overwhelmed with the response.

She said: “I posted on Hexham Matters at the weekend but my family in Allendale and down south have been making them for weeks.

“It’s great that so many people want to join in and not only that it’s a great way of putting the word out about the octopuses. I’ve had many private messages from parents who are currently in hospital who have asked for a octopus because they saw my post.”

For anyone wanting to create the knitted friend, you can find patterns online and the preferred material is 100% cotton.

Sophie has set up a drop-off point at the parish office at Hexham Abbey and will be delivering them to the RVI in a couple of weeks.

She added: “I just want to say thank you! It’s amazing to see how kind everyone is. I would also like to say, a big thank you to everyone who’s supported me and my partner throughout Lara’s hospital stay. Lara and her octopus are very grateful.”