A LAWYER has lost both her hands and feet to a form of meningitis after surgeons battling to save her life decided to amputate, it emerged yesterday.

Olivia Giles is understood to have lost both legs below the knee, one arm below the elbow and most of the other hand.

The 36-year-old is still very ill but is now conscious and being comforted by her family and partner Robin Garrett, also a solicitor.

Ms Giles, who specialises in property deals, was struck down five weeks ago after complaining of feeling unwell. Within hours she was taken to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, where doctors diagnosed she had contracted a virulent bacterial form of meningitis.

One symptom of the condition is the risk of severe septicaemia - blood poisoning - which can cause gangrene in the limbs. In the worst cases, usually involving under-fives or teenagers, this can result in the loss of limbs.

But doctors are forced to perform quadruple amputations only in the rarest cases.

Alistair Giles, Ms Giles's father who is a quantity surveyor, and her mother June, a primary school teacher, have regularly been travelling from their home in Johnstone, Renfrewshire, to visit their daughter in hospital. Her sisters Rosalind, 32, and Caroline, 33, have also been making regular trips to be by her bedside.

Speaking from the family home, her father said: ''The family have been with her in hospital every day since this happened five or six weeks ago.''

He also praised the efforts of doctors and other medical staff at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary who saved his daughter's life as her body was ravaged by the disease, leaving her in a coma. He added: ''There is nothing to explore about the treatment she received. The medical team in Edinburgh was absolutely fantastic.''

Ms Giles was in a coma or under heavy sedation for several weeks and unaware of her condition. But, she is now conscious and has been moved to St John's Hospital in West Lothian for plastic surgery which will form the first stage of her recovery.

Ms Giles lives in the Morningside area of Edinburgh with Mr Garrett. Both are partners in the property department of Maclay Murray & Spens, one of Scotland's biggest legal firms.

Mr Garrett is said to be shattered by the tragedy, which will leave Ms Giles requiring care for the rest of her life.

One source said: ''Robin is devastated by the whole thing, but then everybody who knows Olivia feels the same way. She is such a young, attractive, outgoing and successful person, it seems all the more unfair this should suddenly happen to her.''

Ms Giles joined Maclay Murray & Spens in 1989, soon after completing her legal degree at Glasgow University. She is a former pupil of Hutchesons' Grammar School in the city. Mr Garrett, an Edinburgh University graduate, has been head of the firm's property department and has been a partner since 1997.

Nicola Davies, of The Meningitis Trust, said last night: ''This is awful and amputations are only carried out in the very, very worst cases. This must have been severe. She will need a tremendous amount of support as she recovers because basically she will have to re-learn her life. It is terrible and you cannot prepare someone for something like this.''

She added that the first symptoms of the disease would have been headaches, joint pain and possible vomiting and diarrhoea, as well as a telltale rash which does not disappear when a glass is pressed against the skin.

Ms Davies said: ''With some people it comes on in a few hours, in others it can be a few days. It affects everyone differently, but it's always very quick.''

Bacterial meningitis is extremely rare, with only about 2500 cases in the UK every year.

The main symptom is that it causes the lining of the brain to become inflamed, leaving one in 10 victims dead. Many others suffer permanent deafness or brain damage. In half of all cases, the bacterium which causes the infection can enter the bloodstream causing the septicaemia which leads to gangrene.