by Amanda Smith A MOTHER has backed a petition to find out more about a rare disease which her daughter died from.

Susan Jones’ daughter, Emma Matheson, died in November last year, aged 22, after a battle with sarcoidosis.

She was diagnosed with the condition when she was just six months old and it affected her skin, joints and eyes.

A petition has been drawn up which will be sent to Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, which calls for more research into the condition.

It has so far been signed by more than 300 people.

Ms Jones, of Duxbury Street, Halliwell, said: “I welcome this petition because any more research that can be done has to be a good thing.

“I would like to know more about it because when Emma was ill doctors could tell us very little. The information that is available hasn’t been updated for years.”

Sarcoidosis is a chronic condition which causes extreme fatigue, confusion, fevers, muscle weakness and tremors.

It can affect many different organs in the body, most commonly the lungs but also the liver, skin, lymph nodes, kidneys and head.

In adults, the condition can burn itself out or be treated with steroids, but because Emma was so young she was never strong enough to get over it.

Emma went to Claypool Primary School, in Horwich, but when she was a teenager, she started to lose her sight and went to St Vincent’s School for the Blind.

The petition was set up by Keith Bigland, aged 41, from Norfolk, who suffers from the condition.

amanda.smith@thebolton