NICOLA Morgan was just 10 when she was told the devastating news that she had arthritis -- a crippling disease usually associated with the elderly.

Now 12, the Farnworth youngster finds it difficult to even bend down to tie her shoe laces -- and netball is definitely off her curriculum agenda at Mount St Joseph's School.

But Nicola remains cheerful and positive despite weekly visits to the Royal Bolton Hospital for intense physiotherapy -- and treatment every three months at Booth Hall Children's Hospital to drain the fluid from her left knee joint.

Fall

Nicola is just one out of 14,500 young people in the UK who have to cope with arthritis.

It struck "out of the blue" after a simple fall at home caused severe swelling which was later diagnosed as arthritis.

It came as a shock to mother, Gillian, when doctors at Booth Hall Children's Hospital broke the news that her daughter had the crippling joint disease normally associated with pensioners.

She said: "Nicola fell down a couple of steps when she was 10 and this caused a large, painful swelling which wouldn't go down.

"She had to have an x-ray at hospital and she was sent to the specialist children's hospital where they told us it was arthritis.

"It came as a shock, but we get on with it, there's nothing much more that we can do."

Her mother and father, David, are now hoping for a revolution in science to find a cure to give their daughter a happier, pain-free future.

On bad days, when the swelling in her left side grows unbearable, Nicola is forced to use crutches to get about school.

Her friends come to the rescue to help carry school bags and books but she often has to sit on the sidelines while her friends play.

"She can't play contact sports because of the fear of her being kncoked or falling.

"It is heart-breaking and it does sometimes make her cry.

"But she is usually a very happy person and doesn't let it get her down. If she had a different approach to it, it would be harder for all the family."

But mother-of-three Gillian admits that she finds that her daughter's illness seems to effect her more than Nicola.

"It gets me down. I think it is more difficult for the parents than the children."

Nicola reveals in her own words the misery that arthritis brings to children: "Some people think I fake it. I've got used to it and try to have a normal life.

"The pain comes and goes, and when its really bad the pain is sharp but sometimes dull.

"When it's at its worst, I can't put my socks and shoes on and I can't sit cross-legged, also I can't walk upstairs easily.

"The morning is the best time for it because it doesn't hurt as much.

"Milk always helps to make it better for a while. But most of the medicine I've had makes me very ill.

"When I go to Booth Hall Children's Hospital, I feel safe. I hate hospitals but I love going to Booth Hall because they always help me by draining my knee and the staff are really friendly.

"I have it drained every three months, but it doesn't hurt because I have entenox (a pain killer). Then I have a steroid injection to stop any germs getting in my knee." FACTFILE Juvenile idiopathic arthritis affects around 14,500 children and young people in the UK, or one in a thousand.

More effective and targeted treatment, particularly the use of the drug methotrexate, has resulted in a far better quality of life for many young arthritis sufferers.

Youngsters with severe juvenile idiopathic arthritis may need to undergo joint replacement surgery, particularly hip replacement.

Medical research charity the Arthritis Research Campaign currently spends several million pounds every year on research into producing new treatments -- and ultiately a cure -- for juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

For more information go to the Arthritis Research Campaign's website at www.arc.org.uk. For a copy of free booklets, When Your Child Has Arthritis, and Arthritis In Teenagers, contact the ARC on 01246 558033.