Donations have started pouring in towards a wheelchair appeal for a Deal toddler with a rare disease.

Kind hearted readers are coming to the aid of two-year-old Elana Lamb who has a degenerative health condition which affects her sight and mobility.

Last week, KentOnline's sister paper the Mercury dedicated its front page to the tot, who has been given a likely diagnosis of hypomyelinating leukodystrophy which means she has reduced white matter on her brain.

Despite the already debilitating loss of mobility, NHS wheelchair services say she is not entitled to a wheelchair until she is three.

Her grandmother Ann Gardiner, 52, who lives in St Richard’s Road and has guardianship, has therefore started fundraising herself.

Since reading the story, the Royal Marines pantomime fund has shown interest, inviting Ms Gardiner to fill out an application form for grant funding. They have previously given out grants ranging from £250 to £10,000.

Personal donations and offers of help from individuals have also been made.

Ms Gardiner said: “People in Deal seem to be so generous. It’s amazing.

“I actually got stopped in the town by a lady who wanted to give me £5 towards the wheelchair.”

Elana was three-and-a-half weeks old when she started experiencing seizures and her family noticed her unusual eye movements.

She underwent several MRI scans to help identify the problem before specialists said they were 90% sure that’s what she had.

The rare disease will eventually affect her spinal cord, causing difficulties with her mobility and functioning. It could shorten her life expectancy to just eight years. She is already partially sighted.

Ms Gardiner has already raised £1,500 but is looking to raise £3,500 more to buy a wheelchair which will provide her granddaughter with sufficient support.

She said: “A wheelchair will help her posture marvellously. It would make such a difference to get her out and about in the fresh air more and for her to be more comfortable.”

She is attending a hospital appointment with Elana this week where she hopes to ask doctors for advice on the make and model she should be buying.

If you would like to make a donation to Elana’s wheelchair fund, contact the Mercury office on 01304 365526.

Alternatively, you can donate here.