Anna’s dog flies in to aid cancer fight
LITTLE Anna Drysdale’s face says it all – after her beloved dog Murphy joined her in Newyork to boost her battle against cancer.
The eight-year-old Briton – who is in the United States having cell-blasting therapy – was given the surprise by father Ian last week as she recovered from the first round of her gruelling treatment.
Mother Keeley said: “On Sundays in Central Park dogs are allowed off the lead until 9am, so at the weekend we were down there watching them all playing around when we got the text from Ian telling us Murphy was on his way. “Anna was bouncing.
“He’ll be a huge boost to her during the treatment.”
Anna has already fought aggressive bone cancer twice and is in the US thanks to the generosity of a Sunday Express reader who paid £400,000 for her to have immunotherapy treatment.
It hopes to teach Anna’s body to detect cancer cells as they develop but is exhausting and she may need four more courses of the treatment before she can return home.
Keeley, from Chipping Norton,
Oxfordshire, added: “We’ve been recovering and as Anna has felt a bit better this last week we’ve been able to do more, which has been a welcome break.
“Knowing we were going to be out here a while we knew we wanted to get Murphy out here eventually but it was too expensive.
“When we had looked into it with British Airways it was over £1,100 and really complicated. But when Ian was back in the UK he spoke with American Airlines who said they would do it for $200 – but they couldn’t guarantee him a place until check-in on the day.
“A friend was on standby to take him home again but he got a spot.
“They arrived here on Sunday night and we’re so happy to have him here.”
The next round of Anna’s treatment is due to begin in the next few weeks once doctors are sure she has recovered from the first dose.
● To find out more about the treatment and to make a donation you can visit https://justgiving.com/ crowdfunding/anna-drysdale