A thoughtful little girl left her relatives speechless when she opted to dress up as a NURSE for her school's Superhero Day - as three generations of her family worked in the NHS.

Ruby Monaghan, nine, refused to be tempted by the comicbook favourites that her classmates opted for and instead declared to her mum that she wanted be an 'everyday hero'.

Calling on her cousin, 26-year-old nurse Becky Cheetham, for help with her costume, Ruby went dressed in a blue nurse's dress complete with a fob watch and homemade name tag.

Handing over her usual Batgirl costume to her seven-year-old sister Ella, Ruby instead celebrated the miracles performed by nurses on a daily basis.

Mum Stacey, 44, now hopes her daughter will follow in the family's footsteps and become a fourth generation nurse - just like her cousin, aunt and grandma.

Stacey, from Worsley, Greater Manchester, said: "I was just so proud.

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"I guess we always expected her to want to be a nurse because she's so caring - it would either be a nurse or a vet.

"She always looks after Ella. She'll always be the one to look after you when you're ill, whether you like it or not.

"Ella had a party recently and one of her friends hurt herself. It was Ruby who was the first one over to look after her and take her to her dad. She's so loving."

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Becky said: "I felt so proud when she said she wanted to dress up as a nurse and got a little tear in my eye.

"She's always been kind and caring and will make the perfect nurse one day."

So when she had the opportunity to dress up at school for Superhero Day, the answer for Ruby was obvious.

Stacey said: "Ruby was really excited.

"Both girls have outfits from previous years, but as they get older they're less likely to want to get dressed up as a superhero.

"I said we had a Batgirl outfit and she agreed to go as that, but then said 'I could go as a nurse?'

"I said 'well, there are everyday heroes too', but we didn't have the outfit."

Devoting her evening to creating a custom name tag, cousin Becky worked hard to pull together the most convincing nurse's outfit possible for her younger cousin.

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And turning out on the big day, Ruby was able to proudly tell her friends that emergency service workers can be superheroes too.

Lunchtime assistant Stacey said: "Ruby's school planned Superhero Day and the school picked the charity CLIC Sargent to raise money.

"One of the children has recently found out that she's got cancer and is going through chemotherapy at the moment.

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"Becky came and dropped off the uniform and she even gave Ruby an old fob watch.

"She'd made her a lanyard with her own name and picture on it.

"Ruby's very caring and has a lovely nature. We think she'll follow in the family's footsteps.

"Becky's a nurse as well as her mum Jackie and grandma Eileen, who used to be paediatric nurses.

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"One of the other little girls in reception class went dressed as a doctor too and the teachers have been using it to say it's about heroes on a daily basis too."

Ruby, who hopes to be a nurse when she grows up, said: "It's not a superhero people might choose every day. "Nurses are everyday superheroes and my mum and grandma are proud of me.

"Some of my friends went as a villain cat and Harley Quinn and my little sister went as Batgirl."