Like most 13-year-olds, Olivia Story loves sleepovers with her friends, buying make-up and taking selfies.

Sitting in her living room, listening to her pester her mum for a puppy, you don't notice her amputations straight away.

They are just part of her - something she's learned to live with and something which ultimately saved her life.

If you ask Olivia, of Lazonby Terrace, how she manages without two legs and arm, she just shrugs. She just does. That's Olivia - a determined yet easy-going young woman who just loves life and adapts.

For parents Kim Brown and Mike Story, it's hard to believe they came so close to losing her 10 years ago. A happy, healthy two and a half year old until meningitis struck, then everything changed.

It was July 23, 2006. “She wasn’t very well when we picked her up from nursery," recalls Kim. "That night she seemed to perk up. But the next morning she wouldn’t wake up. She seemed really ill.

“I phoned Cuedoc and they rang 999. The next thing we knew we were on our way to hospital."

Paramedics initially treated Olivia in the ambulance, before rushing her to the Cumberland Infirmary.

"I didn’t know it was meningitis until we got to casualty. A consultant took over and said that’s what they thought it was. It was a waiting game. If she didn’t get better she’s have to go to Newcastle, to the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit," remembers Kim.

With little other choice, Olivia was transferred a few hours later - but even that was highly risky.

“She had to be put to sleep so she could go in the ambulance. They said if she even made the journey it would be a good thing.

“When we got there her heart stopped. They wouldn’t let us see her at first because they were trying to get it started again. We just thought she was going to die," says Kim.

“After they resuscitated her they let us see her, but they said surviving that night was the first goal. We had to take it one night at a time. “Then her arms and legs were going black and dying, because of the blood poisoning that comes with meningitis.

“They said we had a choice - that we could have her legs and arms amputated to try and save her life, but there was still a risk she could be brain damaged. There was only one decision we could make. The only alternative was to let nature take it’s course. We had to try.

“We just had to wait and hope,” adds Kim, who remembers the sickening feeling while she was in surgery for hours.

Somehow Olivia came through it, without brain damage, proving her parents had made the right choice. But having had both legs amputated below the knee and part of one arm she still had a huge battle ahead. She was still very sick, spending a total of five weeks in Newcastle before being transferred back to Carlisle.

“One of the paediatric consultants said he’d never seen a child so poorly who had survived. He was amazed. That’s how sick she was,” says Kim.

Eventually, at the request of her parents who felt she’d recover faster out of hospital, Olivia - who has an older half brother and sister, Josh and Amber Story, now 20 and 17 - was allowed home, but she was still relying on a feeding tube and needed regular nurse visits.

But although she was much better medically, there was still a long way to go. A fun-filled and independent toddler before her illness, it was hard to suddenly find herself disabled.

Not quite three, she was too young to understand what had happened, yet she had suddenly lost both her ability to walk and the use of one hand. “She was a good walker before it happened. When she was in poorly and in hospital she just stopped speaking. It was shock.

“But when she got back home and saw her brother and sister here, she started to come out of her shell," says her mum.

“To be honest she coped really well. We told her she was getting special legs, which she got seven or eight weeks after coming out of hospital. But then there was one day when she was about three when she suddenly asked 'when will my legs grow back?'

"We realised then that’s what she thought would happen. We said that they can’t grow back, that they were poorly and were going to make her go to heaven, but it didn’t matter because she had prosthetic legs.”

Because her wounds healed quickly, she was soon able to start practising and by the January she had already mastered walking. Getting used to being without a hand was tougher.

Little things she used to do without thinking were suddenly very difficult. But Kim said along with her determination to walk again, this is when Olivia’s independent streak really came into its own.

“When she was back home I remember someone offered her a sweet in a wrapper. Everyone was trying top open it for her but she wanted to do it. She struggled for ages but still refused help. She was so determined and got there in the end.”

A big milestone was returning to nursery. “It was a major step - for her and for us,” said Kim. “But we wanted her to get back to normal and she loved being with other children. She was fine.”

Olivia started Caldew Lea School aged four, again another big step. Again her parents were slightly apprehensive about how she’d cope, but they didn’t have to be. Olivia loved it and settled in quickly.

Despite her physical disabilities, Olivia has always loved sport and has been determined to challenge herself.

Kim and Mike were told there would be things she wouldn't be able to do, but they have always been guided by Olivia. If she's wanted to have a go at something, they've let her try.

As a result Olivia is a strong swimmer, a yellow belt in karate and loves going to laserquest or paintballing. She's been on outdoor adventure holidays and even managed to master skiing.

But it hasn't all been easy, with Olivia having to undergo two major operations since she turned 10 because the bones in her legs were growing at different rates. It meant a long recovery, having to use a wheelchair instead of her false limbs, and then learn to walk all over again. But Olivia, determined to get her independence back, battled through the pain to get back on her feet quickly.

Now aged 12, Olivia started secondary school last year, at Caldew in Dalston, and soon had a new network of friends.

Asked to describe her daughter, who is currently in France on a school trip, Kim said: "She's outgoing, obsessively independent, and strong willed and pretty inspirational really.

"Some people say it's the way we've brought her up but we just follow her lead. She know what she wants to do."

Mike and Kim are now separated, but Olivia loves spending time with both. Mike, who says he loves winding her up about boys, says: "I'm extremely proud of Olivia. She has to put in a lot more effort just to do things that other kids take for granted.

"We have never told her that she wouldn't be able to do anything, because I actually don't think it is true - there is always a way. She has played the violin and has her own drum kit.

"I love the way Olivia is just a normal teenage girl. She does all the stuff her friends do and more. Things are often tough for her. Sometimes her legs can hurt her, but she rarely complains. Olivia has came such a long way and is growing up to be a very strong young woman. I hope she will inspire people in a similar situation."

Kim adds: "Since Olivia was poorly it's changed the way I see life. Now I try to be positive and not dwell on the negative. I want us to make the most of it. We've been through a lot, she almost died, now I just want her to be happy so we just enjoy life."

*Over the years people across the area have been inspired to raise thousands of pounds for the Olivia Story Trust, set up by her parents. That money is now paying for some of the equipment and realistic-looking prosthetics she needs as she grows older.