A GROUP of youngsters who are walking 70 miles to help a terminally-ill six-year-old girl are proof that not all superheroes wear capes.

Pupils from Bishop William Ward Primary School, in Great Horkesley, are on a mission to walk 70 miles in just seven days to support Lily Mckelvey.

Braintree and Witham Times:

Brave - Lily following a radiotherapy session 

Lily, who lives in Marks Tey, was recently diagnosed with an extremely-rare tumour in the stem of her brain.

Her condition is called diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) - and fewer than 30 children are diagnosed with it in the UK each year.

Following Lily’s diagnosis in January doctors told her parents Elizabeth and Jack, both 31, their daughter’s life expectancy was between just six and nine months

With treatment for DIPG no longer being available in the UK, the couple launched a GoFundMe appeal in a desperate bid to raise £370,000 for pioneering treatment in America.

More than £160,000 has been raised so far, but the couple need to hit the full target by the end of next month.

If the target can be reached in the coming weeks and the treatment abroad is successful, Lily’s life may be prolonged.

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Superpower - Gracie Robson is taking part in the walk 

When parents of children at Bishop William Ward Primary School heard about Lily’s situation, they immediately wanted to help.

So 14 of the school’s pupils, mostly aged four and five, and their parents decided to set themselves the challenge of walking 70 miles between themselves before going back to school on Monday.

Julia Pollard, a parent who helped organise the week-long fundraising walk, said: “They don’t all know Lily themselves and they are not aware of the severity of her illness as they are a bit young to take this in, but they have been told that Lily is very ill and needs special medicine to make her feel better, which is very expensive.

“They know they are walking so people can send money for Lily’s medicine, some have even offered their money out of their piggy bank.

“All the kids are under ten years old, most of them are four and five years old.”

She said many parents from the school have already donated to Lily’s appeal, but they wanted to help boost donations before time runs out.

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Peace - Jorgie Dickenson is also helping out 

They decided to start the fundraising challenge on Saturday while the children are still learning from home.

On the first day of the challenge, the children and their parents walked 17.5 miles in total.

Within the first three days the youngsters managed to walk an impressive 52 miles, and they have raised more than £1,800 so far.

Julia added: “When they are walking, they wear their ‘Help Lily’ T-shirts and we have made everyone on our social media aware so people can give them a wave when they see them walking.

“All of the children taking part are walking with their parents at different times of the day and we are recording the miles we walk, together with pictures during the walk, which we then update on the GoFundMe page.”

The children are hoping to reach their £2,000 target by this Saturday, when the challenge finishes.

Julia said: “Their legs are only little, but all kids are so motivated to help out and happy to walk as much as they can to save Lily.

“What has happened to Lily is a parent’s biggest nightmare and one that lies very close to our hearts.

“We want to do all we can so Lily can continue to live, and are hoping this can be shared with as many people as possible.”

To find out more about the walk, or donate, visit https://bit.ly/2OiX4kL.