VILLAGERS rallying to the help of a little girl who suffered a stroke aged six, have raised over twice their target.

VILLAGERS rallying to the help of a little girl who suffered a stroke aged six, have raised over twice their target.

They aimed to raise �5,000 with a 10-mile run and have raised �11,700 – including �1,400 donated by Hunts Post readers touched by the story.

After Molly Moore, now seven, from Offord Cluny, had a stroke last August, she was left unable to walk, speak or swallow. After six months specialist treatment at The Children’s Trust in Surrey, she is now walking and talking again and is due to go back to Offord Primary School in September.

Claire Dawson, one of the fundraisers said: “Molly is doing really well, she came to the schools sports day and she joined her friends on Friday afternoon for Golden Time (a period at the end of the week when children are allowed to play games). She is so happy, she always wants to hug and kiss you.”

As reported by The Hunts Post, Molly’s neighbours and school friends’ parents decided to run “Ten Miles for Molly” in April to raise money for the specialist equipment she will need when she comes home.

Her six months of rehabilitation treatment is now almost over and part of the money raised for her has bought a special tricycle for her, so she can play with her little sister, Daisy, five.

Mrs Dawson said: “We presented Molly with the cheque on Friday. This was much more than we hoped could be raised. Charlie Clay, a parent from the school, also ran the Paris marathon for us.

“�1,400 also came from people who read Molly’s story in The Hunts Post. It certainly made all the effort we put in worth it.”

Molly was born with PHACE syndrome, a condition so rare that only 200 children in the world have been diagnosed with it. It means she has a pre-condition for a stroke because of problems with arteries in her brain. She had her first small stroke aged 17 months. Apart from slightly affecting the movement in her left hand, Molly carried on as any other child until last summer.

Molly’s mother, Katie, 37, said in March: “No one can tell us how much she will recover or how long it will take. It was a nightmare, I got a phone call to say that Molly had said ‘my head hurts’ and then collapsed. Her recovery so far has seemed like a miracle.”

When The Hunts Post first reported the story in March, six months on from the stroke, Molly had just said her first words.

Mrs Moore said: “She was so polite, the first thing she said was ‘Mummy, I’m hungry, can I have some breakfast please’.

This week, after receiving the cheque (and throughout the fundraising) Molly’s mum Katie, 37, said how grateful the family was for such support.

She said: “We couldn’t believe it – it was quite emotional and there were tears all round. It’s fantastic, there are so many things we can get now – the people in the village are incredible. People say there is no community spirit – but our whole village is wonderful. I’ve been out wheeling Molly in the village and people have stopped me and said ‘is this Molly, I wanted to sponsor her’ and given me money, people I have never met before’.”

Yesterday, (Tuesday) Molly was taking part in a paralympics in Surrey and had kicked a football. Also, the new tricycle was delivered to her house and her dad Jason was due to take it down to Surrey for her to ride.

Now she is due to be coming home for good on Friday, July 9 to rejoin her family and next term go with Daisy and their friends to school.