A BRAVE young girl suffering from leukaemia has been dealt a devastating blow after she suffered a rare reaction to a treatment drug.

The reaction means that a potentially life-saving bone marrow transplant planned for Lily May Filmer has had to be put on hold.

Lily's family say she has been left paralysed by the reaction, which has affected her spinal cord, and they do not know whether the paralysis is permanent.

We've reported how Lily, eight, has been searching for a donor after the acute lymphoblastic leukaemia she thought she had beaten returned.

Lily's mum, Kayleigh Chapman, speaking from Lily’s bedside, said: “We took her to Birmingham Children’s Hospital at the weekend as she was struggling with going to the toilet as well as eating and drinking and found she had had a very rare reaction to treatment.

“At the moment, she’s on very high doses of steroids to get her strong - her bone marrow transplant is now on hold.

“Basically, it would be kicking her while she’s down to go ahead with it at the moment to go through with it."

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She added: “Doctors have never seen this reaction before and they are investigating.

“She’s paralysed and the medical staff are not sure if it’s permanent.

“On Monday, she had to be moved using a hoist as she cannot weight bear - she’s had a catheter fitted to help with urine retention.

“On Thursday, MRI results showed her central nervous system does not look as it should do - her spinal cord is swollen, stopping nerve signals being sent around her body.

“We are taking it hour by hour - she just wants to go home and is getting really down about it all.”

Lily rang the end of treatment bell in August last year, after fighting leukaemia since she was five but the leukaemia returned at the beginning of this year.

A swab drive was organised to find a suitable bone marrow match after a plan for her younger sister to donate failed.