A toddler who doctors believed wouldn’t survive a serious illness will be cheering on her dad as he raises money for a charity that supported the family.

Lilly Blackwell was three-months-old when she started showing flu like symptons, which were at first to believed to be just a virus.

But after a few weeks of her condition deteriorating and numerous trips to the GP, Lilly’s parents Nick Blackwell and Clare Hagger demanded she see a specialist paediatric doctors.

She was taken to Colchester General Hospital where experts quickly realised something was wrong and transferred her to Addenbrookes Hospital it Cambridge.

It was initially believed that Lilly had leukaemia.

Lilly was then diagnosed with life threatening Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis, a condition where the immune system is overstimulated and begins to damage the patient’s own tissues including the bone marrow, the liver and the brain.

Lilly is still undergoing chemotherapy but doctors will slowly begin decreasing the treatment in the hope Lilly can cope without it.

Mr Blackwell, along with brother, Adam, sister, Louise and her partner, Scott Williams, will take on the BUPA 10k in London on May 25 in aid of Acorn House, which is run by the Sick Children’s Trust and provides free accomdation for families whose children are in Addenbrookes.

The team have so far raised more than £3,000.

See today's paper for the full story.

To sponsor them click here