A NINE-year-old girl diagnosed with a rare form of cancer could be flown to the USA for potential lifesaving treatment.

Lucy Wright, from Great Harwood, is currently undergoing chemotherapy at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital after being diagnosed with high risk neuroblastoma five months ago.

There is currently no long-term cure for the disease and it has the second-highest mortality rate in children, second only to leukaemia. A 12-month treatment plan is in place at the Manchester hospital but the young girl’s health may only recover temporarily.

Her family want to raise £60,000 to give the pupil at St Hubert’s R C Primary School, Great Harwood, a better chance of living a cancer-free life, using a treatment that is being trialled across the Atlantic.

Lucy’s mother Carrie, who lives with her husband Richard, originally from Sabden, said the family were devastated when they initially heard about the diagnosis in August.

The mum-of-one, 44, said: “After being poorly through the summer, with what we thought were growing pains, Lucy was found to have a type of cancer which is quite aggressive.

“We were devastated at the time and wanted to find the best way to treat it.”

After consulting with doctors the family of three learned that a two-year treatment in the UK on a drug, known as DFMO, increased the chances of stopping the cancer from returning from 60 per cent to 84 per cent.

Once Lucy completes her year-long treatment in the UK, the family have been told that Michigan’s Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital will be willing to accept the nine-year-old onto their trial treatment.

However, the family say they need to raise tens of thousands of pounds to pay for travel costs, tests and consultations as they will have to visit the US state several times over the two-year period.

Mr and Mrs Wright set up a GoFundMe page on November 26 and over the past two weeks have received more than £20,000 in donations towards the treatment, which has been described as phenomenal by Lucy’s mother.

The former HR consultant said: “Overwhelming does not describe it. The support we have received has been phenomenal.”

To donate, visit https://www.gofundme.com/lucys-mission-to-michigan.