Brave Molly flies to the US with family

The youngster, highlighted in Observer over the past two weeks. flew out to the States yesterday for proton beam therapy.

The four-year-old was accompanied by her parents Paul Fleming and Claire Grundy and her siblings, Harley, five, three-year-old Thomas and 13-week-old Jacob, after the local community successfully rallied round to raise money to pay for her family to stay in the US while she is being treated.

Molly, from Beech Hill, will spend around nine weeks in Florida having the state-of-the-art treatment.

The little girl is suffering from ependymoma, a rare and aggressive form of brain cancer which was spotted on a biopsy after she had a tumour removed at Manchester Royal Children’s Hospital.

Shortly before their flight, dad Paul, 35, said: “We’re glad everything is moving along now. We were supposed to go on Thursday but there was a delay with the visas because the embassy’s website was having technical problems. We’ve sorted it now and it’s all in place.

“Molly’s doing alright and she’s as feisty as ever. It’s quite daunting for us as a family but we’re ready to go now.

“We’ve had some feedback from people who’ve been to Florida and heard really good reports.

“They said they really look after you over there and that has settled us a bit.”

Paul revealed the family has set a target of getting Molly well for her first day at school in September. She will need a couple of weeks in Jacksonville preparing for the treatment before receiving proton beam therapy Monday to Friday for around six weeks.