Dream comes true for brave youngster after community rallies around

The family of an eight-year-old girl who has been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer have made her dreams come true thanks to a random act of kindness.

Amy Houghton, from Caxton, was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma in February and her mum, Lisa, launched an appeal to get her daughter a puppy.

Lisa and family took to Facebook in a bid to raise the funds to buy a pug but were shocked when they received a message from a well-wisher saying she wanted to buy the dog herself as a gift to Amy.

Lisa said: “After everyone saw Amy in the Hunts Post and online, they started donating towards Amy getting her pug.

“I was approached by a lady called Patricia from the traveller community who said that they wanted to pay for the pug for Amy as they were so touched by her story.

“She said that they had clubbed together to get her a pug, and wanted us to keep the money that was raised for Amy so we could take her on days out.”

Amy has already had 10 rounds of chemotherapy and was due to have an operation to have her right femur and part of her hip removed and replaced with titanium metal at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital but it was postponed until October.

Lisa said she arranged with Patricia to bring the puppy to the hospital to surprise Amy.

Lisa said: “Patricia then arranged to come and see Amy in hospital at Addebrooke’s where she brought the pug.

“Amy was so shocked. All she kept saying was ‘thank you’ and couldn’t stop smiling she had no idea that the puppy was hers so it was such a lovely surprise.”

Lisa hosted a fundraising event to try and help raise the money for the puppy at Morrisons in St Ives on September 8 and said she was overwhelmed by the generosity of visitors.

She said: “It’s amazing to see how many people clubbed together to help our family. From the people who donated when we held the event in St Ives, to the people that donated to the fundraising page, it all means so much.

“My sister also put out an appeal on Facebook to try and get someone to help us make our garden more wheelchair accessible for Amy when she arrives home from her operation, and we have had so many people offer to help. It really has been amazing.

“It just shows what happens when the community clubs together. I am so thankful for Patricia and the travelling community who were so kind to donate the puppy to Amy.”