A YOUNG Bradford on Avon mum with Multiple Sclerosis and six children is on a mission to raise £30,000 for a revolutionary treatment she hopes will change her life.

Leanda Alatoum, of Churches, was diagnosed with relapsing remitting MS in late 2013, just a week before she found out she was pregnant with her youngest child.

The condition means the 31-year-old, who lives with her taxi driver husband Mohanad Alatoum, 42, suffers with fatigue, blurred vision and numbness in her body. When she suffers a relapse she can lose the ability to drive and the capability to walk for weeks on end.

“When I was diagnosed my world crumbled and changed overnight," said Mrs Alatoum, who has four children, Jaiden, 11, Leona, nine, Amira, three and Malik, two, and two stepchildren, Marwan, 12 and Jasmine, nine.

"My family need me, it breaks my heart daily to think of what this disease could do. I feel beaten by MS but I still have to be a mum to six children who rely on me. I do not want my children or husband to look after me, I want to look after them.

"I want to go running with friends and relax on holidays. I do not want to be in a wheelchair, I want to push my children and grandchildren in a pushchair and play with them."

Mrs Alatoum, whose children go to schools and nurseries in Bradford on Avon and Trowbridge, found out about the new stem cell transplant treatment, which is only on offer in Stockholm, from a Panorama documentary. The treatment has enabled some MS sufferers with paralysis to regain their movement.

In two months more than £7,000 has been raised towards her getting the treatment, which involves taking out her stem cells, freezing them and then implanting them back into her. The treatment would take over two months and is similar to chemotherapy.

“The amount of donations is staggering, I am speechless – I cannot thank them enough. Their generosity is incredible,” said Mrs Alatoum, who has been told her case is suitable for the treatment. “My mum was in floods of tears after receiving a cheque for £1,400 from people's fundraising efforts. It is one thing to be interested in a story but to donate like this, the support is overwhelming.

"I was blown away when I saw the documentary. Any damage already done to my body will stay but it will stop any further damage and may stop my MS progressing to a stage where I will be severely disabled.

“I do not know what the future holds for me or my family. I am scared I may be in a wheelchair one day watching from a distance, unable to play with my children. But I will never give up."

Mrs Alatoum, who was born and raised in Trowbridge and as Leanda Moth was a pupil at St Augustine's RC School, is taking the drug Tecfidera daily to try to reduce the number of relapses she has and goes to hospital several times a year with her MS nurse and neurologist for check-ups and MRI scans for lesions on her brain.

To donate to her page visit https://www.gofundme.com/leandaMSfunding