Katie off to US for radical treatment

REVOLUTIONARY treatment . . . Katie McGann will travel to America for proton therapy

A 10-year-old girl is preparing to travel to America for radical proton beam therapy to treat a brain tumour.

Katie McGann was diagnosed with an inoperable tumour over a year ago and faced an uncertain future.

But Katie, a pupil at St Edward’s Primary School in Lees, was determined not to let her illness affect her — she was even featured on the front page of the Chronicle in July last year for her fundraising efforts on behalf of the Brain Tumour Charity.

Her family was shocked when doctors said she would need to travel to the US to receive treatment on a proton beam machine, which is able to target radiation more precisely than more common radiotherapy and keeps damage to healthy brain tissue to a minimum

Katie and her mother, Marie, will travel to a centre in Jacksonville, Florida, for more than three weeks of treatment at the end of March.

As funding covers only travel for Katie and her mum, members of the Friends of St Edward’s group have offered to run a fundraising drive for the family - enough to cover food and transport to the clinic and to give Katie’s brother and grandmother the chance to visit her.

Jane Norton, who has been part of the group since it began over two years ago, said: “It’s not just about letting Katie have her family around her, it is also about giving her mum the support she will need during the treatment. If we raise enough money it will take away some of the stress.”

The group is organising events and has set up a donations page at www.fundrazr.com/campaigns/avdA4.