Leukaemia sufferer makes it to Euro Disney

The Jones family have now returned home from her trip to EuroDisney, in France, after a holiday of a life-time provided for the five-year-old by readers of The Northern Echo.

The family arrived last Monday, after spending a couple of days in Leeds with nurses Andrea Marchant and Mary Appleton. The women run Batti About Kidz, a charity that took Vicki and other seriously ill children to France in a specially equipped 'Jumbulance.'

The holiday had at one point looked in doubt, when an organisation that had pledged to raise money for the trip disappeared around the time the money was due. The Charity Commission and West Yorkshire police said on MOnday they are still investigating the unregistered charity, Phoenix Cancer Care for Kids, which gave its address at Dudley Hill in Bradford.

Despite that, Vicki's dad Bryan Jones said the week's break was something they would remember for the rest of their lives.

He said: "It was like a dream from start to finish. It was something we'll remember for the rest of our lives.

"I was in tears half the time I don't mind admitting. It was so nice to see Vicki's face because she had been waiting for so long. She didn't want to come home, none of us did."

People are still fund-raising for Vicki, to send her to EuroDisney again once her treatment has finished. One of the more unusual fund-raising events is being organised by two strippers, who have offered to organise a charity night in Peterlee, at a date yet to be announced.

Vicki's family are delighted by the lift the recent holiday has already given their little girl, who has acute lymphatic leukaemia.

Bryan said: "It's given Vicki such a boost. I would just like to thank all The Northern Echo readers who donated money. We've sent cards already to people we had addresses for, just to let them know we'd got there safely, but some people wanted to remain anonymous. So I'd just like to thank them. They know who they are."