A young woman whose last hope of beating cancer lies with revolutionary treatment abroad has told how she is desperate not to leave her little girl without a mum.

Magda Sedoluk, 25, has been fighting acute myeloid leukaemia for six months, with aggressive chemotherapy failing to defeat the disease and leaving her a physical wreck.

But an extraordinary £40,000 fundraising appeal has given the trainee hairdresser from Canterbury renewed hope of seeing her five-year-old daughter Sandra grow up.

The money will pay for controversial proton beam therapy in the Czech Republic – treatment not yet available on the NHS.

Magda, who lives in the city centre with husband Daniel, 30, says: “I was devastated when I got the diagnosis and just broke down in tears.

“But I’m determined to beat it and not leave my little girl without a mother.

“It makes me very sad thinking about her daddy having to tell her I’m an angel in heaven looking down on her.”

Magda moved to the UK from Poland almost four year ago and settled in Canterbury with her husband, who was working for fruit distributors Gomez.

"I’m determined to beat it and not leave my little girl without a mother..." - Magda Sedoluk

She started a hairdressing course at Canterbury College but was forced to give up her studies following the devastating diagnosis in August.

Months of chemotherapy failed to destroy the cancer, leaving the pioneering treatment in Prague as her last hope – but it comes with a daunting cost of £40,000.

Despite the mammoth sum, friends helped her set up a fundraising appeal called Helping Magda and she has now reached the target, with donations from the UK and her native Poland.

Magda says: “I cannot believe how generous people have been, some who don’t even know me. It is extraordinary and I can barely find the words to thank everyone who has donated.”

Magda says the driving force behind her determination to beat the cancer is Sandra, who goes to Wincheap Primary School.

She says: “She knows I am sick and she has tried so hard to help me when I have been exhausted by the chemotherapy and so weak I could barely get out of bed.

"She keeps telling me she loves me and wanting to do things for me, like making me sandwiches.

“My husband is working hard for the family and it has been a tough time for him too.”

Magda is taking special drugs to prepare her for the proton beam therapy, which she hopes to have in April.

It is a more precise type of radiotherapy, targeting only cancerous cells and resulting in much less damage to the surrounding tissue.

Magda says: “Its success is far from guaranteed but it is my last chance. My life depends on it.”