A COUPLE is raising funds to help their two-year-old daughter who has been left partially paralysed after surgery.

Lillie-anne Jane Jones, who lives with her mum and dad in Tyrell Drive, Southend, underwent an operation two weeks ago at Great Ormond Street Hospital to remove a large tumour around her spinal cord and the left side of her brain.

Due to the size of the tumour, it crushed her spinal cord leaving the toddler unable to move her left hand, legs and arms.

Her dad Ben Jones, 22, who works as an asbestos surveyor, said that he and his partner Rachel Kerr, 23, noticed something was wrong when Lillie’s face started to swell.

He said: “About one-and-a-half years ago she started to have a twitch in the left side of her face, and her face started swelling too.

“My partner Rachel and I took Lillie to Southend Medical Centre, the doctors thought it was an ear infection.

“She was given antibiotics but they didn’t work.”

After further tests at Southend Hospital, doctors discovered that Lillie had a tumour and she was sent to London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital for emergency care.

Mr Jones said: “The surgery happened in the early hours of September 15. She had 99.9 per cent of the tumour removed.

“But the tumour was so large it squashed her spinal cord and it affected the left side of her brain.

“She can’t move her left arm, legs, and the left side of her lung is weakened. She’s now contracted pneumonia.

“She can’t cough on her own at the moment, because of what happened to her spinal cord. And she might need another surgery. At the moment she’s got a tube in her mouth to help her breathe.”

To make Lillie’s life more comfortable and to aid her recovery, the couple want to raise £5,000.

The money raised will go towards providing a wheelchair for Lillie and to rent a private bungalow with wheelchair access

The family currently live in a first floor flat which is not not an ideal for their daughter’s condition.

Mr Jones added: “Lillie will be in a wheelchair up to two years, or maybe a little longer, it all depends on how fast she can recover.

“She has physio sessions, and she will continue these sessions after she no longer needs the wheelchair.

“Southend Council has offered us a hostel with shared accommodation but this is not suitable for Lillie.

“Rachel ‘s coping. It’s been very hard for her.”

So far, the couple have raised £345. If they raise more than their £5,000 target, the funds will be donated to Great Ormond Street Hospital, after Lillie received “amazing care”.

If you would like to support Lillie and her family, go to gofundme.com/beautiful-lillie.