Baby Porscha Steele was rushed into intensive care the day after she was born when doctors discovered she had the killer bug meningitis.

Now three months old, she is still receiving treatment at Oxford Children’s Hospital to make sure the disease, which affects the brain, is no longer in her bloodstream.

Parents Aimee Houston and Tom Steele, both 17, are looking after Porscha, who was born at Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital on December 2. with the help of Tom’s mum Sarah Wicks, from Ernest Road, Didcot.

And on Saturday people in Didcot, Abingdon and neighbouring towns and villages rallied to raise more than £1,000 towards the cost of Porscha’s future care.

The fundraiser was staged by well-known charity group the Thong Rangers, with seven scantily-clad men and five women, the Rangerettes, running or skating a total of 16 miles, from Didcot Town FC on the Ladygrove estate to Abingdon and then back.

Organiser Clifford Oakes, a binman from Kynaston Road, Didcot, said the Rangers knew they had to help.

Mr Oakes, 48, said: “Sarah Wicks is my wife’s cousin and as soon as she told me about this I knew I had to do something.

“It looks like Porscha is now on the mend, although she is still in hospital because they think the meningitis is still in her bloodstream.

“We think Porscha has suffered brain damage but we won’t know how badly she has been affected until she is older.

“Any money raised will go towards her future care.

“We have still got sponsorship money coming in so we don’t know yet what the final total will be.”

Dad Mr Steele, a landscape gardener, said: “We want to thank everyone who has supported us.”

The Thong Rangers, who formed in 2000, have raised more than £200,000 for good causes.