A TWO year old boy will fly toOklahoma for proton therapy treatment which doctors hope will save him from a rare form of cancer, after health bosses agreed to pay the £100,000 cost.

Tyler Brown, of Wrose, was diagnosed in April with Ewing's Sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer affecting his spine at the point it joins to his head.

Surgeons were planning to remove the tumour, but found it was so close to vital nerves that had they gone ahead it would have left him with disabilities so severe he would have been unable to walk or eat unaided.

Instead they suggested proton therapy treatment, which is not available in this country, and a panel of NHS experts approved the £100,000 cost after studying details of Tyler's condition.

He will fly out with his father, Shaun, next weekend to start a course of treatment which is expected to continue until shortly before Christmas.

When that is over doctors will have to continue administering chemotherapy to give Tyler the best chance of a permanent cure.

His mumNiki, 34, hopes to fly out with daughters Olivia, 12, Ellie, 11 and Skylar, five, later but the family have to raise money to pay for their flights and living costs because only limited costs for parents, as carers, are met by the NHS.

Niki said the family had been experiencing "a living nightmare" since Tyler became ill at the start of the year.

Despite his symptoms he was only diagnosed in April when he awoke one morning unable to walk or support the weight of his head.

"The doctor told me she thought he had a brain tumour," she said.

"We went straight to Leeds General Infirmary and he had a scan. The confirmed a tumour, so within two hours we had found he had a tumour.

"They took him for an operation that day and put a drain in his head because the tumour meant fluid could not drain from his head."

Several days later surgeons operated again to remove the tumour, but after nine hours in the operating theatre the family was told that could not happen because of the proximity of the growth to his cranial nerve.

Medics suggested proton therapy and that was approved by the NHS, with Tyler expected to need nine or ten chemotherapy sessions afterwards.

"Tyler has off days but he always has a smile on his face, which is nice. Because he is so young he just goes with it, he doesn't know any different," she said.

So far the Wrose family has raised more than £4,000 towards the cost of the trip to America, with £2,000 donated by car park firm UKCPS Ltd. opokesman Steve Hall said the company was keen to ensure the family could be together during such a difficult period.

People can donate at www.gofundme.com/eoo98s