A LIFE-CHANGING operation has been arranged for a young York girl suffering from a rare condition.

Poppy Wadsworth is eight years old and lives with a condition called cloaca, which means several of her internal organs are not properly separated.

Doctors in Columbus, Ohio, have offered to contribute half the cost of a £100,000 corrective operation if her friends and family can raise the initial £50,000, and the figure is now in sight, with the justgiving site's total standing yesterday at just over £45,000.

Alison, Poppy's mother, said: "A charity has just given us £500, so we've only got the last £5,000 to go. It's been absolutely amazing and it's all getting a bit real now. We have booked the operation with the hospital. The surgeon was in shock that we've raised the money so quickly.

"We're booked to go over in November for the start of the procedures, but we're still waiting for a conference call to get the full details. We've got appointments for x-rays and scans prior to the operation, which will take place on Monday, November 15, when we think they will start in the early hours."

Self-employed hairdresser Alison, from Poppleton, said she had been shocked to see how widely the news of the appeal had spread, but was confident the rest of the money would be raised by October, when the American doctors have asked for the balance.

Alison said: "We figured if we can arrange £45,000 in five months we can arrange another £5,000 in the next few. We know it's the school holidays and everyone's having fun, but we have been doing car boots and every penny we have spare is going to the fund.

"It's funny, because it went to the USA with Fox News online but wasn't on TV there. They were more bothered about our NHS and why we were having the operation there, they weren't reading the full story. Columbus Ohio is the biggest children's hospital in the US that solves the biggest problems.

"The story has also been picked up in Australia, Germany and the Netherlands. They have all been supportive, and we've received some good coverage and donations from them. It's been quite a shock. I know it's not a life saving operation, but it's a life changing one."

So far, Poppy is excited but also nervous about the procedure, and "wants to know everything, every little detail".

Alison said: "In her mind, how she copes with it, she needs to know everything and if that's how she copes with it, that's fine.

"We want to say a huge thank you to York for standing behind us and supporting us all the way. Everyone has really helped us out and without their help and generosity we would still be waiting for the operation in a few years time."