THE family of a brave little girl suffering from an undiagnosed condition are calling on Globe readers to help them raise £15,000 to pay for life-changing treatment.

For the first 14 months of Rose Winchombe’s life, she developed like every other little girl.

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She was crawling, had started to say her first words and was a generally happy and healthy child.

But in September 2014, Rose – now aged four – stopped crawling, talking, smiling, laughing and even crying. She then developed epilepsy.

Mum Jo, originally from Wallasey said: “We subsequently spent a great deal of time at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital.

“Two and a half years on, Rose still has no official diagnosis although genetic tests are ongoing.”

Since September 2012, Rose has progressed slowly but steadily.

She can now talk again and is described as a “happy and bubbly little girl”.

Jo added: “She is still though, unsurprisingly, some way behind her peers; most notably by the fact that she isn’t yet walking.

“The NHS, as supportive as it has been to our family, has no further form of treatment available. We therefore turned to the USA and an organisation called the Family Hope Centre.

“The treatment they offer is truly unique, but is expensive, which is why we are fundraising! After nearly 10 months on their programme Rose is making outstanding progress.

“The FHC has outstanding, proven results, so we would like to keep seeing them for as long as is necessary. This means that fundraising has become an ongoing project.”

Each bout of treatment costs around £3,500, with Rose’s parents hoping this Saturday’s fundraiser – which takes place at Claremount Methodist Church Hall – will raise as much as possible towards it.

Raising £15,000 would allow them to pay for treatment until October 2016 – when Rose is due to start school.

Jo said: “The treatment is intensive – five hours a day, five days a week – but I can’t even begin to tell you what a difference it has made to other children and the difference it is beginning to make to Rose.

“A year ago she could only put two words together, occasionally. She is now uttering full sentences. She turned four in June but can already read nearly 80 words independently.

“She could only crawl on her hands and knees when we started the programme - at nearly three and a half - and was very unsteady on her legs. At the weekend she pushed her dolls' pram across the living room by herself for the very first time.

“This is a massive achievement for Rose and we've no doubt at all that, if we continue with the treatment, that she will eventually walk independently.”

The fundraiser takes place at Claremount Methodist Church Hall, Claremount Road, Walllasey on Saturday, August 22 from 1pm until 3pm.

There will be children’s clothes, books, handmade cards and gifts, games and afternoon tea.