WOMEN from Bishop’s Waltham are among fifty mums hard in training to raise money for a little girl with a rare form of cancer.

Five-year-old Jessica Vardy has been undergoing chemotherapy at Southampton General Hospital after a rhabdoid tumour spread through her left arm.

Only two children the UK are diagnosed each year with the condition and she was given a year to live.

But doctors have been amazed at Jessica’s progress and the tumour has now shrunk by 70 per cent.

Her case is so unusual that it is being monitored by oncologists across Europe.

Jessica's mum, Dawn Vardy, 35, of Merlin Close, said: "The pain of hearing the news that our daughter had a rare form of cancer, with little hope of survival, broke us to the core. But our little girl has defied the odds. We are astounded that despite her consultants' fears, her tumour is actually shrinking."

Jessica, a Year One pupil at Swanmore Primary School, will continue with her chemotherapy treatment until doctors decide whether to operate to remove the remaining tumour.

On Sunday, June 9, more than fifty mums are getting together for the Race for Life in Winchester.

Mum Dawn will lead the group and can often be seen around Hampshire, pounding the pavements with Jessica in a buggy.

So far the team has raised more than £4,000 for Cancer Research UK.

To contribute, go to justgiving.com/user/40491447.