More than €36,500 have been raised so far to support 15-year-old Ena Marie Mifsud, who is undergoing treatment for a brain tumour in the UK.

“We are so grateful for the support and help we are receiving. It makes these difficult moments more bearable. We feel the love and prayers coming our way,” said Ena Marie’s mother, Maria Mifsud, from the UK where her daughter will start radiotherapy treatment at the end of the month.

Last Sunday Times of Malta reported the story of Ena Marie after her aunt, Jeanette Zammit, set up a fundraiser to help the family. Zammit will be running 50 kilometers on January 29 to raise funds. The fundraiser, originally set out to raise €5,000, has already suprussed its goal by 733 per cent with over €36,500 raised by Tuesday morning.

Ena Marie and her mother Maria.

But the family needs more money to cover the high rental costs in the UK where they will have to spend some nine months during which Ena Marie will be undergoing outpatient treatment.

“We’re still waiting for final results, their plan is to start radiotherapy on the 31st January but this can change when they have all results. We will be moving in an apartment near the hospital sometime this week. It was a challenge finding one as most of them are rented for a year and over but we finally managed to find a few which we will be seeing tomorrow. The doctors don't want to keep her in hospital more than necessary but they want her as close as possible,” Maria said.

Ena Marie’s health problems started two years ago when she started having stomach-related issues and was diagnosed with a rare condition that required her to go for treatment in Rome from November 2021 until March 2022. The treatment was successful, and Ena Marie started undergoing physiotherapy to gain her strength after having been bedridden for months.

All was going well when, towards the end of the year, she started complaining of a pain in her right leg. She also started losing her balance, and the family initially thought it was due to the physiotherapy. Then she started experiencing blurred vision, and an MRI carried out on December 20 showed she had a tumour in the cerebellum, the part of the brain that controls balance. Parts of the tumour had spread to the spine, causing the blurred vision and the leg pain.

She was rushed to the UK for surgery at Great Ormond Hospital where she underwent a six-hour major operation during which surgeons removed parts of the tumour that had spread to her spine. She was then transferred to a University College London Hospital in central London.

Accompanied by her parents, she will have to spend about nine months in the UK undergoing treatment. While they are receiving support from the Maltese government and the Malta Community Chest Fund, the family still need more help to cover expenses that include the rent of an apartment close to the hospital in central London where Ena Marie will be going regularly for outpatient treatment. The Puttinu Cares Foundation has also been of support and had offered an apartment in Sutton, but it is too far for Ena Marie to travel during her treatment.

Anyone who wants to support Ena Marie and her family can visit https://gogetfunding.com/run-for-ena-marie/