THE family of meningitis-battling youngster Ellie Hills are gearing up for an epic cycle ride in thanks of the 999 heroes who saved her life.

Seven-year-old Ellie was in a critical condition when Portland Coastguard helicopter transferred her in blizzard conditions to Southampton hospital for specialist care.

Her family are determined to complete a challenging charity bike ride of the route of the journey as a thank you – but they need to borrow six bicycles to do it.

Ellie’s grandmother Nichola Finney and her husband Ian are leading the group, which will include family members, staff from First Buses where Mr Finney works, Portland Coastguard staff and a team from the Dorset Echo.

A spokesman from Portland Coastguard said: “I feel quite sure that staff here will want to take part in this bike ride.

“I was on duty when Ellie was airlifted and it was an operational nightmare, we’re all proud to have made it a success and glad Ellie is recovering.”

The fundraisers intend to follow the route that the helicopter took – more than 60 miles when avoiding the motorway – from the coastguard base on Custom House Quay over the Ridgeway to Dorset County Hospital and then to Southampton General Hospital.

They’re setting off at 8am on Saturday, April 23 – the original date of Ellie’s mum Lucy Hills and dad Michael Walbridge’s wedding day.

It was postponed to enable bridesmaid Ellie time to recover and has now been rescheduled for April 30.

Mrs Finney, 41, of Wyke Regis, said: “I was there at the hospital when people were scraping ice off the helipad for Ellie.

“It’s amazing how many people rallied around at such a critical time, I’ve never seen anything like that in my life time.”

The money raised on the bike ride will be split between Portland Coastguards, the Kingfisher children’s ward at Dorset County Hospital, Southampton’s paediatric intensive care unit and a Meningitis charity.

Mr Finney, 36, who came up with the idea, said: “It’s going to take about nine hours depending on how many stops we make.

“We’re trying to sort out six bikes either to borrow for training and the event or as a donation which we can then auction off to charity.

“We’re also looking for someone to provide a support vehicle in case anyone has any problems and for companies to sponsor us.”