A new treatment may help save the life of a five-year-old with a deadly brain tumour.

The parents of Batya Kontis, a five-year-old girl with Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine, are hoping for their child to undergo an experimental brain tumour treatment after feeling disappointed by the “weakness” of the NHS when diagnosing and treating their child.

Batya was diagnosed with the inoperable brain tumour at just 18-months, after initially being misdiagnosed by NHS doctors. The family from Edgware were then glad to see Batya reacting well to the two rounds of radiotherapy and chemotherapy to treat the tumour.

Unfortunately, the tumour returned shortly after the treatments, so Jonathan and Rachel Kontis are hoping to raise £150,000 for the experimental Convection Enhanced Delivery system which is currently only available at the private Harley Street Clinic in London.

The treatment involves directing chemotherapy drugs directly to the brain through implanted tubes.

Mr Kontis recalled the moment he found out about the tumour, he said: “The first feeling is like you lost the child immediately. It’s changed, normally you relate to a child as they’ll always be there, but now everything is not taken for granted as we don’t know what is next.

“Batya is an extremely gentle person but is extraordinarily tough. When it comes to hospital visits it might seem incredible, considering the fasting pricks and other difficulties she has to endure there, but she erupts in a fit of giggles and glee when she knows she has to go. You have to see it to believe it.

“All of the nurses marvel at the degree of her compliance as a patient and I can’t help but to be really proud of her."

While he is grateful for the all the work doctors have done to treat Batya so far, he did claim during the whole process he managed to see the “highs and lows” of the NHS and really noticed a “weakness in the GP system” due to how long it took for doctors to correctly diagnose her.

Even though Convection Enhanced Delivery is still fairly experimental, Mr Kontis is hopeful this may be the treatment which can prolong Batya’s life until something better arises. He said: “They’ve done enough to see it can be effective. Sure, one day they’ll have something better to treat it, but saving her for one day can make the difference.

“New steps will emerge, just because you don’t see the next step, doesn’t meant there isn’t one.”

Funding Neuro, a UK charity for neurological disorders, have been guiding the Kontis family through the process of Convection Enhanced Delivery, and are supporting the campaign for the family to raise £150,000.

It is urgent to the family that they find the funds for the treatment to help Batya. To donate to the campaign, visit here.