A SICK toddler is flying to the US for treatment - largely thanks to generous readers of The Northern Echo.

Little Sophia Carter suffers from continuous, unexplained epileptic seizures.

Michigan doctor Harry Chugani, the world's leading specialist in epilepsy, says he might be able to help the two and half year old, who cannot walk, talk, stand or sit.

Parents Alison and Jon, of New Marske, east Cleveland, are due to be in the States within the next few weeks.

Sophia will undergo tests on that day and the next, with more brain scans during a ten-day stay.

For one of the tests, the toddler will be injected with radioactive sugar.

The trip will cost about £7,000, but Mr and Mrs Carter already have about £6,000. Most of the money has been collected in less than three weeks.

A grateful Mrs Carter said: "Actually, we have had more response from the article in The Northern Echo than from anywhere.

"It has been so overwhelming - people are just fantastic.''

The couple even found more than £200 on their doorstep in a mixture of coins and notes, an anonymous donation and the result of a collection.

Looking ahead to the trip to America, Mrs Carter said: "Our hope is they find the focal point in the brain where this is originating.

"If she is eligible for surgery, we will have to raise another £57,700 for the operation and, of course, the expenses of travelling back out there and the stay.''

Sophia has already undergone lumbar punctures, blood and urine checks and skin biopsies and steroid injections in Britain, in a bid to find out the cause of her illness. Her parents say a baffled British medical profession has now given up on her daughter and America offers their last chance.

They have set up an appeal - Epilepsy Outlook, at 72 Sandmoor Road, New Marske, near Redcar, TS11 8DJ.

Mrs Carter says that any money left over following Sophia's treatment will be spent on helping other children with similar problems.