A schoolgirl born with a rare genetic disorder is another step closer to being able to swim with her friends.

Fundraisers trying to collect £100,000 to send nine-year-old Eve McGuire to New York for specialist surgery are on the homeward stretch, as their total has crashed through the £90,000 mark.

Eve, of Westfield Oval, Yeadon, was resuscitated by doctors many times shortly after her birth.

She was born with a severe form of Treacher Collins Syndrome, which means that insufficient bone was formed in her face. She has a special implanted hearing aid because she has no external ears and uses a tracheostomy tube in her throat to help her breathe. Treatment in New York, set to happen late June, means that Eve's dreams of going swimming with her schoolfriends from West End Primary School will become reality.

Several big boosts to the appeal have sent funds shooting past £90,000, so her delighted parents Belinda and Mike are confident of reaching the target in time.

Mr McGuire was thrilled with the speed that the Eve McGuire Trust has raised the cash.

He said: "If she can have the treatment in June, she has the summer holidays to recover, so she shouldn't miss too much school.

"Eve is so excited about it because it brings with it the prospect of swimming.

"At the moment, she has to stay behind when the class goes swimming and she would love to join in and be like all the others. There are other sums in the pipeline, so we are confident of reaching our total."

Generous Horsforth businessman Doug Smith asked for donations to the Trust instead of presents for his birthday and made £2,500.

A danceathon by Dancing Feet, a dance school that gives classes in Yeadon and Horsforth, raised more than £2,500 for Eve.

A Nottinghamshire football team, Sandhurst AFC, read about Eve's plight and raised £2,037 at a football match, and the Trust received £1,000 from an anonymous donor.

To support Eve's charity, send an e-mail to: evesfund@aol.com.