A YOUNG mum from Bradford on Avon is nearing her £30,000 fundraising target for a treatment she believes will help her beat MS.

Leanda Alatoum, 32, of Churches, started her fundraising campaign in February and has already managed to raise £21,574. She hopes that figure will be boosted by sponsorship from a skydive she did on Saturday (November 19).

Mrs Alatoum, a mother of six, said: “It went really well and it was such a good atmosphere. We went to the airfield at Old Sarum on Saturday and everyone was so supportive of each other. A lot of the people taking part in it didn’t know each other but everyone really got on and pushed each other to do it. My husband and his friend took part and some of the mums from school jumped too.”

Since the fundraising page began, Mrs Alatoum has seen her treatment increase in price, from £30,000 to over £40,000, but this hasn’t dampened her spirit.

Mrs Alatoum was diagnosed with relapsing remitting MS in 2013, not long before finding out she was pregnant with her youngest child Malik.

“The treatment is now £43,000, it goes up each year and then you have to think about the pound’s strength against the dollar. I am still aiming to raise the original cost because I didn’t want people to think it was odd if I increased it. I had an alert the other day saying that someone had donated so I checked but the end digits hadn’t changed – then I realised that they had donated £1,000, it was amazing,” added Mrs Alatoum.

After watching a Panorama episode about the treatment using stem cells, Mrs Alatoum decided that she would do her very best to hit the target so she can enjoy her life and play with her children.

“My flight will cost £4,000 so me and my mum can both go over to Mexico. We can go coach on the way there but I have to travel in business on the way back because of how low my immune system will be after the treatment.

"The treatment will use my own stem cells – some people get a bit funny with the idea if the cells are from someone else,” Mrs Alatoum added.

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