Molly-Mae Hague and Maura Higgins donate thousands to help Ashley Cain's daughter - Tech

Ashley Cain surpassed his target goal of £1million after he set up a GoFundMe to pay for life-saving treatment for his daughter Azaylia amid her leukaemia battle.

And a number of kind-hearted celebrities, including Molly-Mae Hague and Maura Higgins, have donated thousands to the good cause.

Love Island stars Molly-Mae, 21, and Maura, 30, both donated £1,000 to the fundraiser to help Ashley’s seven-month-old little girl on Sunday.

Kind: Molly-Mae Hague (left) and Maura Higgins both donated £1,000 to help Ashley Cain reach his £1million GoFundMe target to to pay for life-saving treatment for his daughter

Many other stars also dug deep, with fashion brand Pretty Little Thing’s founder Umar Kamani, 33, who is currently the highest donor, giving a staggering £20,000.

Former Ex On The Beach star Ashley, 30, took to social media to ask fans for help in donating, explaining the treatment his daughter needs is available in Singapore.

Ashley described the treatment, CAR-T therapy, as ‘the only option to save Azaylia’s life’ and said he and partner Safiyya Vorajee, may have to fly out in a matter of weeks, adding it will take a minimum of one year.

Loving: Former Ex On The Beach star Ashley, 30, took to social media to ask fans for help in donating, explaining the treatment his daughter needs is available in Singapore

Helping: A number of kind-hearted celebrities, including Mrs Hinch, Pretty Little Thing founder Umar Kamani and InTheStyle founder Adam Frisby donated

The GoFundMe page raised over £1.2million in just 16hours, according to The Sun, with over 86,000 people donating in total.

Fellow Ex On The Beach stars Jemma Lucy gave £1,000, as did Chet Johnson who donated £10,000 through his clothing company Faded.

Other famous names included Mrs Hinch, who gave £3,000, and Marvin Humes who donated £500.

In The Style founder Adam Frisby donated £10,000, while footballer Andre Gray, who is engaged to Little Mix star Leigh-Anne Pinnock donated £1,000, as did footballer Robert Snodgrass.

Success: The GoFundMe page raised over £1.2million in just 16hours with Umar Kamani remaining the highest donor (pictured in 2019)

There for you: Interiors queen Mrs Hinch, Sophie Hinchcliffe, donated £3000

Ashley penned a detailed account of Azaylia’s health battle on his GoFundMe page and said that any extra funds the couple receive will be donated to other families in a similar situation to them.

He wrote: ‘This is our first and only child and we’ve spent the first 7 months of parenthood in hospital under COVID restrictions fighting a battle that no parent should ever have to face.

‘Please give us a chance to continue fighting so this journey wasn’t all for nothing and our daughter can have the chance of life that she’s been fighting so hard for!

‘We will be donating any extra money to other children and their families in the same situation as us – we pledged to give back to this community from the moment we were thrust into it and that is something we will always honour.

Important: Ashley has surpassed his target goal of £1million after he set up a GoFundMe to pay for life-saving treatment for his daughter Azaylia amid her leukaemia battle

Heartbreaking: Ashley described the treatment, CAR-T therapy, as ‘the only option to save Azaylia’s life’ and said he and partner Safiyya Vorajee, may have to fly out in a matter of weeks

What is a haploidentical (haplo) transplant?

A haploidentical transplant is a type of allogeneic transplant.

It uses healthy, blood-forming cells from a half- matched donor to replace the unhealthy ones. The donor is typically a family member.

For allogeneic transplants, your doctor tests your blood to find out your human leukocyte antigen (HLA) type. HLA is a protein — or marker — found on most cells in your body.

Doctors look for a donor or umbilical cord blood that closely matches your HLA. But sometimes they can’t find a close HLA match. Then, a haploidentical transplant may be an option.

This is a type of allogeneic transplant where the donor matches exactly half of your HLA. A haploidentical, or half-matched, donor is usually your mother, your father or your child.

Parents are always a half-match for their children. Siblings have a 50% chance of being a half-match for each other. It’s very unlikely that other family members (like cousins, aunts or uncles) would be a half-match.

Source: bethematch.org

‘Thank you all for your energy, love, support and prayers – it lifts us and carries us through this terrifying journey.’

CAR-T, chimeric antigen receptor T-cell, therapy involved reprogramming the patient’s own immune system cells which are then used to target the cancer.

According to the NHS, it is a ‘highly complex and potentially risky treatment’ but has been shown in trials to cure some patients when other treatments have failed.

Azaylia was diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukaemia when she was just two months old.

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

Ashley wrote: ‘We will be donating any extra money to other children and their families in the same situation as us’

Baby girl: Azaylia was diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukaemia when she was just two months old and doctors said that chemotherapy would not be enough to cure her

Doctors told the reality star and his partner Safiyya that chemotherapy would not be enough to cure Azaylia.

It comes after Ashley revealed the heartbreaking news that Azaylia has relapsed amid her leukaemia battle.

He issued an update on his baby girl on Thursday night after she underwent a bone marrow test on Tuesday to see if she was leukaemia free.

Ashley revealed the news that Azaylia had relapsed and that he and Safiyya were ‘devastated’ as they have been left with ‘very few options’ with the family immediately admitted back into hospital.

The reality star added that they currently only have one possible solution to ‘save Azaylia’s life’ and it will see the trio leave the country in a matter of days to embark on a ‘year long journey’ to help his ‘beautiful little girl’.

Emotional: Ashley was left in tears last month when he marked the moment his daughter Azaylia left hospital to go home for the first time in five months (above with Azaylia’s mother Safiyya)

What are the symptoms of leukaemia in children?

Fatigue and pale skin – this is because leukaemia can cause anaemia which makes a child feel weak, tired and light-headed.

Infections and fever – children with leukaemia lack normal white blood cells which would normally help fight infection.

Rash – children may have small, dark spots that look like common rashes if the leukemia cells spread to the skin

Easy bruising or bleeding – this includes frequent nosebleeds, bleeding gums and bleeding a lot from small cuts.

Bone or joint pain – this is caused by a build up of leukaemia cells near the surface of the bone or inside the joint.

Swelling of the abdomen – leukaemia cells may collect in the liver and spleen causing them to enlarge.

Loss of appetite and weight loss – if the spleen and liver swell, they can press against the stomach causing loss of appetite.

Swollen lymph nodes – some leukaemias spread to the lymph nodes causing them to swell.

Source: American Cancer Society