Campaign For Luna Raises £100,000

20 July 2011, 06:00 | Updated: 20 July 2011, 08:45

Eight weeks after a family from Watford told Heart they need to raise £100,000 so their daughter can receive life-saving medical treatment in America - they have reached their total.

Four year old Luna Petagine suffers from Ependymoma - a cancer that attacks the central nervous system.

Having undergone five operations, chemotherapy and radiotherapy at Great Ormond Street Hospital, doctors in the UK said there was nothing more they can do.

But her mum Lucy Salamone and dad Mario Petagine have been given a glimmer of hope - a pioneering treatment at the Burzynski Clinic in Houston, Texas could slow down the tumour and eventually kill it off.

Mum Lucy says: ''It could cure her, that is the aim. It's not just to try and prolong her life, it is to cure her. There's nothing in this country that can cure her, there might be drugs that might make her live slightly longer, but there's no cure.''

The couple have been told of one other girl in the UK who is receiving the treatment and appears to be doing well.

Thanks to the money raised the family are now able to fly out to the States on July 30th. Luna will be assessed there for five days and then, if all goes well, she will start the drug treatment immediately.

Luna’s mum Lucy is overwhelmed with the support:

“This has meant so much to us because it gives Luna some small hope for the future. Mario and I cannot thank everyone enough for what they did.”

To follow Luna’s story head to www.lunapetagine.co.uk