An appeal to raise £500,000 for a little girl’s life-saving cancer treatment is starting the new year with £100,000 in the bank.

Ruby Young’s family and friends have raised this incredible amount in just eight weeks.

They have received support from people all over Medway who have done their bit to help the toddler, who has been given just a 40% chance of survival.

The two-year-old has neuroblastoma, an aggressive rare cancer and her parents Vikki and Rob, of Monmouth Close, Rainham, need to raise the money for treatment in America that is not available on the NHS.

Family friend Anita Marinelli, who is organising much of the fund-raising, said: “We never dreamed we would raise this much money. It has been overwhelming. I spoke to Vikki when we reached £100,000 and she was in disbelief.

“The fund-raising started out with just me and Vikki. I remember sitting with her eight weeks ago – poor Ruby was sat there colouring and we looked at her and said ‘How on Earth are we going to raise this money?’.

“I have never done fund-raising before, but we just came up with loads of ideas. I’m so relieved it has taken off.”

Ruby is being looked after on the NHS, but her cancer has an 80% chance of relapsing and at that point her only option would be treatment in the US.

Before Christmas, Ruby’s parents were given the devastating news that the tumour in her stomach had not shrunk enough to be operated on and cancerous cells were found in her bone marrow. She started a new course of treatment on Monday.

Anita added: “We have to raise another £400,000. It is not a question of ‘are we?’, it is ‘when’. If we don’t, it will be disastrous for Ruby. We will definitely get there.”

Among those who have supported Ruby so far are Gillingham Football Club, The Voice star Jamie Johnson, the University of Greenwich at Medway, Lordswood Leisure Centre and The Barn Restaurant in Rainham.

The long list of celebrities who have tweeted about her plight include Queen guitarist Brian May, comedian Leigh Francis, TV presenter Gaby Roslin and Hollywood actress Melanie
Griffith.

The latest money-spinner was a flashmob at Pentagon Shopping Centre, Chatham. For three minutes, songs were blasted out and a group of more than a dozen people danced in unison to raise awareness for Ruby.

• To donate, visit www.justgiving.com/RubyYoungJourney or text RLYJ88 and the amount you wish to give to 70070.