AN internet group supporting a brave toddler's battle against a brain tumour now has more than 5,800 members.

"Liberty Rose Finn – A Special Little Lady" has been set up by mother Dawn Finn, 31, to tell her daughter's story and raise the profile of children around the world who are battling cancer.

Within three weeks of it being set up in December, it had attracted more than 5,600 members from countries as diverse as Qatar and South Africa.

Two-year-old Liberty, of Station Street, Swadlincote, will go blind if the tumour is removed, so she must spend the rest of her life having chemotherapy to stop it growing.

Dawn said she and husband Carl were overwhelmed by the amount of support the Facebook site had generated.

She said: "It's amazing to think that people out there care for her, and they genuinely do. The messages are so heart-warming.

"It's a sort of diary. If she gets good news, we can send a message to all of our members.

"But we're not just doing this for her. It's for all those children with cancer who are so brave."

Libby was diagnosed when she was eight months old and a month later began chemotherapy.

She spent three months at Nottingham's Queen's Medical Centre, away from twin Destiny Mai, six-year-old sister Jemma and brother Alex, 15.

Her weight dropped to that of a newborn baby and she had to undergo regular blood transfusions, take medication and was fed via a central line into her chest.

Dawn said: "The treatment has removed about 80% of the tumour but she'll have it forever.

"We always said we'd never split up the family but then she had to stay in hospital for three months.

"That had to be the hardest time we've ever had."