Tickets are being snapped up for a summer ball in Deal to help raise cash for Kelly Turner’s lifesaving treatment appeal.

The Mercury is backing the campaign to raise £1m so the St Edmund’s school pupil can get specialist treatment in America.

The ball, on Friday, September 16, is being hosted by the Mercury in association with Run Ashore Roving Dining Club at the Courtyard Oyster Bar and Restaurant in Sondes Road.

And you can book your place for £20 by clicking this email link.

The black tie and ballgown evening will help the people of Deal get behind the campaign to give Kelly a fighting chance of survival.

Music to dance to comes from Mixed Emotions, local duo Sean and Mandy Gaffney, parents of Britain’s Got Talent teen drumming sensation Kieron Gaffney.

News editor Beth Robson said: “We’re delighted that Sean and Mandy are showing their support, sponsoring the evening with their live show.

“And the restaurant owners Margaret and Raj Ragavan are giving up one of the busiest nights of the week to allow us to put on the ball –we hope it’s a sell-out and we can raise plenty of cash for Kelly’s lifesaving treatment.”

Kelly and her desperate parents Martin and Linda won the hearts of Mercury and KentOnline readers when the campaign launched in March. She had been diagnosed in October with desmoplastic small round cell tumour (DSRCT), a rare soft cell tissue sarcoma. She has just 18 months to live unless she gets the surgery she needs at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital in New York. So far the gruelling nine bouts of chemotherapy have made her lose her hair and she has been forced to give up school temporarily.

Tickets for the Summer Ball for Kelly cost £20 including live music and All Around The World themed canapes.

Kelly will be there with her parents if she is well enough to attend.

Half of the ticket price goes to the #DoingItForKelly campaign and 100% of profits from the raffle, which already has great prizes pledged.

Tickets are available by emailing: admin@runashore.co.uk or from the Mercury office, 13 Queen Street, Deal, and the Courtyard Oyster Bar and Restaurant, Sondes Road, Deal.