GENEROUS donors have pledged almost half of a £120,000 fundraising target to send a young Wistaston boy for vital cancer treatment overseas.

A Just Giving appeal started by Georgy Capener's mum, Helen, has generated a huge response with nearly £58,000 raised in just over a week which will go towards paying for the 11-year-old's stem cell transplant that an Asian medical centre has said they can carry out.

Georgy was first diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer called Ewing's Sarcoma in May 2018.

But after lengthy treatment he appeared to be cancer free, until he was rushed into Leighton Hospital for recent scans after complaining of headaches.

Medics found the aggressive cancer had destroyed some of the boy's cheekbone and was growing into his skull, but there is hope a procedure which is not available on the NHS can help him.

After setting up her appeal Helen was inundated with contributions and her phone has been ringing constantly as friends and strangers have rushed to help Georgy get the treatment he needs.

Several other fundraising efforts are also underway to help the family reach their target.

Staff at the Woodside pub have arranged to complete the equivalent of a 100-mile bike ride inside the pub/restaurant.

While young cyclist Poppy Oliver, from Stoke-on-Trent, is aiming to raise a £1,000 via another Just.giving account. Poppy will be cycling 100 miles over Wales later this month.

That money and other donations can be added to the current total of £57,673 which has been pledged by nearly 2,400 supporters.

Helen said: "My phone has been ringing constantly, it has been incredible. I started the appeal at 10 pm a week last Sunday and there was already £3,000 pledged by the time I woke up on the Monday morning.

"It has gathered pace since. When Georgy was first poorly there were was one done by a couple of friends, but I didn't expect this to take off like it has. I've got a list as long as my arm of people to thank and I am going through it gradually."

Georgy has undergone onerous rounds of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, having his initial tumour removed in December 2108. From January onwards last year his regular scans came up clear and he was in remission.

But the family were to suffer a blow amid the uncertainty of Covid-19 as Helen recalled: "We were due to go for a scan which was rearranged for later, but we never made that because Georgy started having headaches and we rang Leighton. He was called back in at the end of April when we found out."

The transplant involves harvesting new cells from a donated umbilical cord and has a high success rate. But the stem cell treatment would need to start immediately after Georgy's final round of chemotherapy which is scheduled for the beginning of next month.

He would to fly to Thailand for his treatment then, allowing three more weeks to raise the overall total.

But Helen added: "They (the medical centre) said they can be flexible. Georgy's cancer is so rare that only 50 people a year are affected by it.

"He has been through so much. He knows about the appeal - at first he was worried that this surgery would be invasive, which it is not."

Helen will be telling Georgy's story on Cat FM, the community radio station for Crewe and Nantwich at 11.30 tomorrow (Wednesday) morning.

You can pledge a donation at Helen's page on the JustGiving site here.