\n Three-year-old Phoebe James from Littlehampton was diagnosed with stage four neuroblastoma in July, a rare childhood cancer that develops from immature nerve cells.\n<\/p>\n
\n Now her mum Emily, 37, and her aunt Alice Aston, are trying to raise \u00a3300,000 for treatment in New York which could stop Phoebe from relapsing should her current treatment on the NHS prove successful.\n<\/p>\n
\n Emily said: \u201cOn the current count we are just over \u00a316,000 in 10 days, it is way more than I could have anticipated – everyone has been amazing and very generous.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n She added: \u201cPhoebe is coping amazingly and having chemo every 10 days, and she is still her cheeky and bright self. She is doing really well.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n Phoebe in hospital\n<\/p>\n
\n Emily said she never expected doctors to tell her that her daughter had cancer.\n<\/p>\n
\n She said: \u201cShe had been unwell on and off with a fever for a couple of weeks, nothing out of the ordinary.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cWe ended up at the GP, who diagnosed her with tonsillitis.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n Five days later, Emily discovered a lump on her daughter\u2019s head and took her to Worthing Hospital.\n<\/p>\n
\n Emily said: \u201cLess than 48 hours later, they told me she had cancer.\n<\/p>\n
\n “About 100 children a year get diagnosed and quite often it doesn’t present until quite a late stage.\n<\/p>\n
\n “By the time Phoebe was diagnosed, her cancer had reached stage four.\n<\/p>\n
\n “It was shocking really, she hadn’t been particularly unwell.”\n<\/p>\n
\n Phoebe is currently underdoing intensive chemotherapy on the NHS, which will hopefully put her in remission.\n<\/p>\n
\n But Emily and Alice are already looking beyond this point.\n<\/p>\n
\n In the UK, once treatment is over, Emily said: “that is it”.\n<\/p>\n
\n But The Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre in New York offers a vaccine designed to reduce the risk of getting neuroblastoma again following treatment.\n<\/p>\n
\n Emily said she believes this vaccine gives children \u201cthe best chance\u201d – but it is only available in the US.\n<\/p>\n
\n To make matters worse, for international families who do not qualify for trial funding the treatment can cost more than \u00a3300,000 – leaving fundraising their only option.\n<\/p>\n
\n Emily said: \u201cI strongly believe it should be available here in the UK.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n Phoebe’s auntie, Alice Aston\n<\/p>\n
\n Alice, who lives in New Jersey, is running the New York City Marathon to raise money for Phoebe\u2019s treatment.\n<\/p>\n
\n Alice said the treatment\u2019s high cost prompted her to start fundraising early, despite Phoebe\u2019s recent diagnosis.\n<\/p>\n