A newspaper-backed appeal for life-saving cancer treatment for a seven-year-old Hertfordshire boy has smashed its £60,000 target in a month.

Money has poured in from far and wide since the Herts Advertiser launched its fundraising campaign less than a month ago.

Two large donations from people who read about Freddie Rowe-Crowder’s plight in the Archant-owned weekly helped the fund break through its target.

Local businesses and organisations also rallied round in support of Freddie, who needs four cycles of a pioneering antibody treatment in Germany which will hopefully cure his cancer.

Freddie is pictured with dad Tep, sister Aggie and Herts Advertiser editor Matt Adams, left and chief reporter, Aimée Brannen, right.

After other treatment options were exhausted last year doctors at Great Ormond Street Hospital told Freddie’s parents Tania Rowe and Tep Crowder that his condition was terminal, giving him just months to live.

But he fought back against all the odds and it’s now thought that the ground-breaking treatment in Greifswald will give him a last hope of survival.

Said Tep: “The generosity of people is nothing short of a miracle. In only a month, the fundraising team and public donations have hit the target we needed to cover three cycles of treatment, plus a fourth cycle should it be required.

“Our eternal thanks go to all those who donated or gave so much of their time and enthusiasm so that Freddie might have a chance of life.”

Family friend, Lisa Hobden, who led the fundraising marathon, said: “I’d particularly like to thank the Herts Advertiser for taking on this campaign and handling it so sensitively and getting the message out to a wider audience, which has resulted in some incredibly generous donations from the public.

“Without the Herts Advertiser getting the message out there is no way we would have raised that money.”