We're blown away by the £62,000 raised for Jessica's vital operation

Jessica Kill, aged 38, from Streetly, is a single mother to Finley aged eight and Louis aged sixteen, suffering from a rare genetic disorder called Ehlers Danlos. The condition affects the collagen tissues within the body.

Since developing a related condition called cranial cervical instability, 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. Jessica will become paralysed unless she can travel to the United states for vital treatment.

As Jessica has to travel outside of the EU for her operation, she has been left without funding help from the NHS and has taken to crowd funding. So far £62,383 out of the £150,000 target has been raised on crowd fundraising website You Caring. £34,000 of this has been raised in the last two weeks alone from a variety of fundraising events, including a nine mile pyjama walk last Friday (27 May) which raised over £5,000.

Speaking about the generosity of her local community Jessica said:

"It's incredible. My family and I have been blown away by the support from the local community.

"I have gone from being in a hopeless situation, to now actually believing I have some hope".

To donate to Jessica's crowd funding campaign, visit www.teamjess.co.uk or www.youcaring.com/jessica-kill-559740