Family's race against time to get 'sweetest little girl' life-saving cancer treatment in US

  • Jamie Reeve, father of two-year-old Hallie, is heartbroken to see his daughter spend her childhood in hospital.

The father of a two-year-old girl diagnosed with a rare blood cancer has said he needs to raise £1 million to get his "sweetest little girl" to America for life-saving treatment.

Jamie Reeve described his daughter Hallie, 2, as "incredible" and said she "takes everything on the chin" despite being in and out of hospital.

Hallie was diagnosed with Juvenile Myelomonocytic Leukaemia (JMML), a chronic blood cancer, during her first family holiday in Spain at just eight months old.

Despite undergoing two invasive stem cell transplants, countless blood transfusions, rounds of chemo, and surgeries, Hallie isn't responding to treatment.

Mr Reeve told ITV News Central he "can't comprehend" what his daughter is going through, as he appealed for help in hitting their fundraising target.

"Everything is out of your control, but the fundraising that we're doing at the moment is something that is positive in this journey," he said.

"It's a really tough one to take. I remember looking at Hallie and thinking poor girl, you've been through so much already and you're going to have to go through it again.

"They're going to have to intensify the chemotherapy, everything's going to have to be intensified to make sure it works."

"I can't comprehend it."

Speaking about his daughter, Mr Reeve added: "She is just so gentle and I'm so proud to be her dad."

The family of Hallie Reeve, from Coventry, are trying to raise £1m for treatment not provided on the NHS. Credit: Kim Dugdale

Her family hope if she can receive a new therapy which involves a CAR T-cell therapy in America then she might survive.

Hallie's uncle, Adam Reeve, who has a daughter around the same age, said that instead of being able to play together the cousins are restricted to video calls.

Hallie's uncle says his daughter and Hallie haven't been able to see each other

"They should be playing together, every week, every day, and they haven't been able to do that," he told ITV News Central.

"It's only on FaceTime that they've seen each other, so that affects us as parents knowing our daughter's not being able to see their cousin as much as she should have."

'Somehow along the way, she has still had a childhood within the hospital walls.'

Hallie's mother, Kimberley Wileman, said despite the constant hospital stays and treatments her daughter has remained positive.

"She has spent the majority of her life in hospital fighting cancer," she said previously.

"Once a small baby surrounded by strangers, now a toddler who has so many friends among hospital staff.

"She knows hospital as her second home and she sees the staff here more than her own family because of isolating due to being immunocompromised.

Hallie Reeve was just eight months old when she was diagnosed with the rare cancer. Credit: Kim Dugdale

"And yet somehow along the way, she has still had a childhood within the hospital walls."

Ms Wileman said Hallie "deserves to live a long life, and we deserve to have the normal family life we so long for."

She added the family is overwhelmed by the tens of thousands of donations.

The appeal has currently received more than 36,000 donations amounting to £681,923.

What is Juvenile Myelomonocytic Leukaemia (JMML)?

The rare type of cancer slowly develops in young children and has just a 50% survival rate if caught early.

Abnormal blood cells multiply in the bone marrow and fewer normal blood cells are made. If there are not enough normal blood cells, the body cannot work normally.

According to Cancer Research UK, treatments for JMML are limited and most involved waiting to see how the cancer develops alongside chemotherapy, others involve more extensive solutions like a stem cell or bone marrow transplant.

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