An anonymous donor has given thousands of pounds towards a young teenager's potentially life-changing surgery.
Emily Scott, 12, who was diagnosed with scoliosis in March suffers from a 50 degree curve in her spine
Brenda, who is from Carrickfergus, said the donor had paid £40,000 directly to the family after seeing Emily's story in the news.
The operation, which is performed in Istanbul, costs more than £45,000 and the youngster will also need aftercare.
Brenda previously told Belfast Live that the family's biggest fear was that the curve continued to get worse before they could avail of surgery.
She said: "She seems to be progressing at quite a rapid rate, which is a massive worry for me as her mother.
"She just wants to go back to a normal life and she can’t have that at the moment.
"If the curve continues to turn then eventually any damage to her organs will be irreversible. Getting the surgery would change all of our lives."
Revealing the news on Tuesday night, Brenda said the donation meant the family could now focus on prepping Emily for the operation.
She added: "We can not thank the donor enough and we are now in plans with the surgeon in Turkey to organise a date and final costs.
"We will be continuing with the fundraising and all donations will be accepted and all planned events will go ahead.
"We need to pay for flights, accommodation, additional medical costs of MRI, x-rays and other tests to conclude surgery is safe.
"Any outstanding monies after all costs are paid will be donated to a local charity Megan’s Wish who help and support children with scoliosis and their families."
"We are well aware that there are many children that need this surgery and we hope with us going public we have raised awareness of waiting times and how the NHS system is broke," Brenda added.
"We welcome the news that Minister Swann is changing the NHS and introducing new orthopaedic clinics and day centres to free up Musgrave.
"For now, we will concentrate on prepping Emily for surgery and will be scaling down our fundraising efforts.
"Thank you from the bottom of our hearts, Brenda, Stephen, Emily and Megan."
To donate to Emily's fundraiser visit HERE.
