Ashley Cain’s appeal for daughter’s cancer treatment reaches £1 million target

A fundraiser for former footballer and Ex On The Beach star Ashley Cain’s daughter has reached its £1 million target in 16 hours.

Mr Cain had been raising money for his daughter Azaylia Diamond Cain to be able to get specialist cancer treatment in Singapore

Seven-month-old Azaylia was diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukaemia when she was just eight weeks old.

After a successful bone marrow transplant, her leukaemia had rapidly multiplied and she had gone into a full relapse, Mr Cain told his Instagram followers on Saturday.

He set up a GoFundMe crowdfunding page, telling donors he needed to raise more than £1 million to cover the costs of treatment and accommodation in Singapore, after doctors told him and his partner Safiyya that it was the only option they had to save their daughter’s life.

Mr Cain wrote: “We don’t have time on our side and we may have to fly out within a matter of weeks.”

He said an initial deposit of £500,000 was needed to be accepted into the hospital and on to the programme.

By Sunday afternoon, the £1 million target had been reached within 16 hours of the fundraiser being set up.

Among the 74,000-plus people to donate were reality TV stars Molly-Mae Hague and Maura Higgins as well as footballers Barry Bannan, Harrison Reed and Robert Snodgrass.

Mr Cain said he had spent the first seven months of fatherhood under Covid-19 restrictions in hospital as his daughter fought the cancer.

Doctors told the couple that chemotherapy would not be enough to cure her.

In November, the couple made a plea for people to register as a stem cell donor after being told their daughter required a transplant, which led to 41,000 people applying within 48 hours.

Azaylia is currently undergoing her forth round of chemotherapy, Mr Cain said.

He said: “We are on our knees asking for help to get us to Singapore.

“Please help us to save our beautiful daughter Azaylia, she has inspired not only us as her parents but so many other people around the world.

“If you have been following our journey you can see that she shows us all everyday how much she loves life and wants to be here.

“This is our first and only child and we’ve spent the first seven months of parenthood in hospital under Covid restrictions fighting a battle that no parent should ever have to face.”