City couple raise funds to bring daughter home

THREE-YEAR-OLD CLARA IS BEING TREATED FOR TUMOUR

- WILLIAM TELFORD

THE parents of a three-year-old girl have made an emotional plea for financial help, after she was left paralysed by a tumour on her spine.

Tiny Clara Gilley, from Plymouth, is now unable to walk and may even lose the use of her arms. She is being treated at Bristol Royal Hospital for Children, where she received lifesaving surgery and is now being given chemotherapy.

However, the tumour damaged her spine, meaning it is unlikely she will be able to walk or use her arms.

Clara, who spent two months on a ventilator, unable to speak, is now likely to be confined to a wheelchair, and her parents, Alana and Matt Gilley, will have to move to a house which is accessible for her.

The couple have been by their daughter's bedside every day since she was hospitalised more than five months ago. Alana described Clara as "our feisty, kind and brave little three-year-old, who loves bunnies, Wallace and Gromit, princesses and whose favourite colour is the rainbow".

She added: "Clara has been incredible through the whole experience. She has undergone multiple surgeries, including having her Hickman line inserted [into her chest] and more recently removed.

"She also had a tracheostomy procedure, in addition to her initial tumour removal. There have been times where it has been touch and go and, despite all of this, Clara has continued to smile and be her funny, sweet self. She is the strongest and most resilient person and she deserves to be given the chance to live a fulfilled life."