DANIELLE O'Connor, 11, from Wishaw, Lanarkshire, who survived a rare genetic disease that has killed every known sufferer, was in Rome yesterday to witness the canonisation of Padre Pio.

Her parents, Frank and Maureen, who accompanied her, credit the Italian monk with interceding with God to help keep their daughter alive.

Sir Tom Farmer, the founder of Kwik-Fit, who has attended prayer meetings devoted to Padre Pio organised by Danielle's parents, paid for the family's trip after their public house in Motherwell burned down.

Last week, the O'Connors expressed their gratitude and said they were ''thrilled'' to be going to the Vatican for the celebrations.

Mrs O'Connor said the ceremony would give more people the chance to hear of the good Padre Pio can do.

The Herald revealed in 1997 that Memories Lounge Bar in Motherwell, run by the O'Connors, had become a shrine visited by thousands after their daughter recovered from one of two rare genetic disorders.

The first left her profoundly physically and mentally handicapped, while the second affected her muscle growth.

To the bafflement of medics, Danielle made a full recovery from the first disorder, which affects only about six children and whose sufferers are not known to live more than a few years.

Her family claims she was saved by a stranger, known only as Jack, who came into the bar and used a bandage from Padre Pio.

Several years later, she is able to walk and is mentally unimpaired. The second genetic disorder, however, has left her physically frail.