Ref. 29007-34TODDLER George Mitchell could soon be off to New York for lifesaving surgery.

Doctors will carry out a scan on the three-year-old from Lyneham on Wednesday to see if chemotherapy has shrunk a cancerous brain tumour.

If it's not got any smaller, parents Sophie and Fraser will fly George across the Atlantic for surgery.

UK surgeons refuse to operate they deem it too risky. But their US counterparts specialising in laser surgery have indicated they are willing to try.

Mrs Mitchell, 30, said: "Before Christmas we came close to just packing our bags and jetting over there, but there are an awful lot of variables to consider.

"We need to be sure that we have exhausted every other route before we do it."

She added that George, who started pre-school last September, is struggling to cope with a different course of chemotherapy.

The family have sold all but the most basic of their possessions to fund the trip.

A fundraising drive for George started in 2003 after doctors warned he might not live to see his 10th birthday. So far, more than £80,000 has been raised.