Ananova:

A seven-year-old girl whose father died of motor neurone disease has helped launch the British Legion's annual Poppy Appeal.

Seven-year-old Hannah Thompson and her mother Samantha were at the launch, to remember Nigel, a Royal Navy petty officer who died aged 44 in January.

The sailor believed that the MoD immunisation programme that prepared troops for service in the Gulf War had triggered his illness and was a tireless campaigner for the British Legion.

Mrs Thompson said without the "emotional and practical support" of the legion her husband's last years would have been extremely difficult.

"In fact it would be impossible to imagine how we would have coped as a family in trying to come to terms with what was happening to Nigel without the support of the Legion," she said.

The appeal this year aims to raise £22 million to fund the Legion's welfare and resettlement work for 5.5 million ex-servicemen and women and their 7.5 million dependants.

The British Legion said the Poppy Appeal was the lifeblood of the organisation's welfare work.

"Wearing a poppy - the symbol of Remembrance - remains a small, yet significant gesture, which helps us to remember the price of freedom," the legion said.

Story filed: 19:08 Friday 25th October 2002

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