SOCCER teammates of a young girl who died of an asthma attack have dedicated a poem to her.

And the family of Jessica Anders, aged nine, have paid tribute to the hospital staff who looked after her.

Both the teammates and the family have been remembering Jessica who died after she stopped breathing at her home in Lincoln Avenue, Little Lever.

The youngster, a pupil at Bowness Primary School, lived life to the full even though she had to take a cocktail of drugs every day because of her condition. Jessica was about to start her second season at Little Lever Football Club when the tragedy happened.

Team manager Mike Beatty wrote the poem in honour of Jessica, who scored around six goals as striker at the club in her first season.

He said: "The poem is on behalf of everyone at the club who knew Jessica. She was such a brave girl and, when it was our presentation evening, I called her the bravest person in the club because she truly was.

"We were all devastated when we found out what happened. I think she will be with us for every game we play now."

After consulting with parents, the team decided to go ahead with their game the weekend following Jessica's death. The under 10s all wore black armbands, had a minute's silence and paid the ultimate tribute by beating Bury Amateurs 7- 4 in the North Bury league.

Jessica died on Tuesday, August 3. She was buried wearing her favourite England kit.

Her parents, Roy and Amanda, paid tribute to their daughter last week and said she refused to let the condition affect her.

Jessica had woken feeling wheezy but medication failed to improve her condition. While her mother was on the telephone to the ambulance service, she stopped breathing and fell off a kitchen stool. Efforts by her mother and paramedics to revive her failed.

Jessica had suffered with severe asthma since the age of four. A Wanderers fan, she received regular treatment on the children's wards at the Royal Bolton Hospital.

Jessica's grandma, Kathleen Kay, of Kempton Avenue, Little Lever, wanted to thank hospital staff.

In a letter to the Bolton Evening News, she said: "Without their hard work, care and dedication we could have lost Jessica sooner."

POEM

Goodbye Jessica, our teammate, our friend,

We'll miss you loads although it's not the end.

We know you'll be with us at every game,

Giving 100 per cent effort, always the same.

In matches, playerwise, we can only play seven,

But we know we'll have eight and you'll be playing up in heaven.

A swerve, a deflection, people will say it's a fluke,

But we have an angel now and to the skies we will look.

You will always be part of our team,

No matter how hard that sometimes may seem,

The number 10 shirt is yours to the end,

We love you Jess, our teamate, our friend.