THE finishing touches have been put to a memorial garden established by a grieving mother for her daughter.

Sharon Dunkley wanted to create the garden to mark the life of Lee Hayers, who died last October aged 28 of arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy.

Mrs Dunkley described the garden - which features two of Lee's favourite things, the colour pink and a Boxer dog statue - as therapeutic for her.

Mrs Dunkley, 49, of Coombe Avenue, Weymouth, said: "Lee had been obviously ill for most of her life but it wasn't until there was a post-mortem that her heart condition was known about.

"She had had over 700 hospital admissions since the age of five, mainly for acute asthma related conditions, but she just got on with things.

"She was a lovely, warm and caring girl."

Lee - short for Leanna - spent her final year in Salisbury after having lived in Weymouth with her family for most of her life.

Despite being unable to work due to her own ill health, Lee regularly took care of sickly neighbours and was known by many for taking her Boxer dog Harvey out on regular walks.

Mrs Dunkley and her family recently gathered in Lee's memorial garden to see the last few plants put in by family friend Janet Gallagher, who brought them from her home in Spain.

It was also an opportunity for Mrs Dunkley - who admits to not being green-fingered - to thank Mrs Gallagher's brother David Thompson and her son Douglas Jacob, both of Weymouth, for planting the garden for her for nothing.

Arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy is an inherited disorder of the heart muscle, typified by the replacement of muscle with fat and scar tissue.

The condition can lead to sudden death in the young and can also cause abnormalities in the heart's rhythm and a weakening of the cardiac muscle.

Mrs Dunkley said she wanted to thank everyone who supported Lee during her life and everyone who donated plants and other items towards the garden.