THE family of a brave ten-year-old, who has been in and out of hospital all her life, are fundraising so they can create memories - and maybe seek treatment abroad.

Karis McMonagle, who lives in Hawkesbury Road, Canvey and spent the first seven months of her life in hospital, was diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2011, which was removed.

Yet, despite five years of MRI scans showing positive results, at the start of this month doctors confirmed she had another large tumour.

Now her family, led by mum Angela, 42, and uncle Stuart Jenkins, 41, are doing everything they can to raise money to create memories with the youngster, including a family holiday, and they are exploring the option of further treatment abroad.

And the fundraising effort received a huge boost when West Ham owner, David Sullivan, donated £1,000 to the cause after a speculative email from Stuart.

The family has already raised £5,000, and are looking to raise as much as they can for their “little fighter Karis” who has stayed strong throughout her ordeal.

Angela said: “Our beautiful, strong and courageous girl Karis is the bravest most accepting child I know. With everything her hard life has thrown at her, she still smiles and lives each day as you would expect any child to.

“Just the other day, she shouted out and said ‘my eyes are shutting mum, I’m tired’ and I responded with ‘then close them darling’ only for her to make us both laugh by saying ‘but I’m on the toilet mum!’. “Her personality is priceless.”

The family have set an initial target of £10,000.

Stuart said: “It was really beautiful yesterday.

“My son turned around on the way to school, we are West Ham season ticket holders, and he said why don’t we ask the club if they can help. I had David Sullivan’s email from a long time ago, and sent him a few details and a link to the page. He came back within two minutes and had donated £1,000.

“How beautiful is that? We were on £20 at the time and it got us started.

“The response has been amazing, it really had, and it is fantastic to see how the community support something like this.”

Visit gofundme.com/fighting-for-karis