Jessica reaches goal to fund vital operation to save her from paralysis

Jessica Kill, from Streetly, has a rare genetic disorder and needs urgent treatment before it leaves her paralysed.

The surgery is only available in the US, where it has a 95 per cent success rate.

As Jessica, who is mother to Finley, eight, and Louis, 16, has to travel outside of the EU for her operation, she has been left without funding help from the NHS.

The 38-year-old took to crowd-funding in May, calling it her 'only hope' to raise the money needed for the operation, which was originally £150,000.

But after the value of the pound fell following the EU Referendum, Ms Kill needed to raise a further £30,000. She has now hit her final target of £180,000 and is getting ready to fly out for her operation.

The money to fund Ms Kill's operation has been raised by more than 4,000 people via crowd-funding.

Ms Kill has been in constant pain since Christmas due to the condition, called Ehlers Danlos, which affects the collagen tissues within the body.

Despite suffering since her early 20s, she has managed to stay independent and worked full time until December, when her world was turned upside down by a related condition called cranial cervical instability. This means the 'glue' holding Jessica's body together is too weak and the ligaments in the neck are too stretched and weakened to support her head.

The combination of the two conditions means that the ligaments in her neck are too stretched and weak to support her head.

In a post on her crowd-funding page, she wrote: "I am so happy to tell you all that we have reached our target of £180,000.

"I can't thank everyone enough for all of their hard work and generosity over the past 15 weeks. You have been incredible.

"My flight is booked and this time next week I will be in surgery. All of this is thanks to my wonderful friends, family and over 4500 kind strangers.

"Human kindness is alive and well in this world.

"Now I'm heading into phase 2 which I call "get fixed" and then phase 3 "get back to life. All of this is thanks to you guys.

"Thank You all so much."

Earlier this week, a £25,000 donation to the fund was made by the organisers of the Team Jess charity ball and auction, while an anonymous donor also gave £1,500.

Erdington Fire Station held a a charity car wash in aid of Jessica's operation, which took place in June.