A mum is making a desperate plea to raise £300,000 after receiving news her daughter is eligible for potentially life-saving treatment.

Three-year-old Poppy Martin has been fighting an aggressive brain tumour for almost two years. But her family have been delivered a string of devastating blows as they seek to treat her.

Told it was inoperable on the NHS, she was also saw hopes of specialist treatment in Baltimore in the US dashed.

But after visiting a private clinic in Wales on Friday, her mum Elle Martin, 22, was given the news she prayed for.

The Whitstable mum, who used to attend the Archbishop’s School in Canterbury, explained: “A professor assessed all of Poppy’s notes and said she is eligible for the treatment. As soon as he said it, I cried.”

He is now recommending she be treated in a six-week-long course of cutting edge proton beam therapy in Jacksonville, Florida - more than 4,000 miles away.

But to do so will come at a huge cost - estimated to be some £300,000.

The vast cost will cover the cost of Poppy’s treatment, as well as flights and accommodation during the lengthy procedure.

Her mum explains: “Poppy’s next MRI scan is due in June, and we ideally need the money before then.

“Doctors will want to start the treatment then if the tumour’s still growing.”

Since her diagnosis less than two years ago, Poppy has faced 72 rounds of chemotherapy, and has already lost most of the sight in her right eye.

Proton beam therapy is an acute form of radiation therapy that targets cancerous cells, aiming to minimise damage to normal, healthy cells.

“It won’t necessarily kill Poppy’s tumour forever, but if it kills it for 15 years the tumour should stop growing by her early 20s,” said her mum.

Poppy has genetic disorder neurofibromatosis type 1. This often results in the formation of a tumour behind the eyes - known as an optic pathway glioma - which can be small and symptomless.

But in Poppy’s case, the growth behind her left eye has cancerous, malignant tendencies causing it to rapidly increase in size.

Five of her last six MRI scans have revealed the tumour has grown.

“A lot of the time you can sit and wait with these tumours, but with Poppy’s one we can’t afford to,” said Miss Martin. “We haven’t got that kind of time.

“If it’s left untouched it could do a lot of damage, and could potentially cause the worst to happen.”

More than £48,000 has so far been donated to fundraising page Poppy’s Plea, but they still face a gap of more than £250,000.

“We’ve been on the TV and in the papers,” said the single mum. “I’m hoping a celebrity will see this and maybe reach out to us.”

She has already approached Ed Sheeran and Simon Cowell’s management teams, and has contacted dozens of celebrities on Twitter - but none have yet offered to get actively involved in the campaign.

She added: “I’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has helped so far,” she said. “Any help is accepted very gratefully.”

To donate visit justgiving.com/crowdfunding/poppysplea.