TWO-YEAR-OLD Ruby Owen is facing the fight of her young life following her diagnosis with a brain tumour.

Doctors have given Ruby a less than 20 per cent chance of survival, and she has already undergone an eight-hour operation to remove most of the tumour.

Unless the youngster, pictured, responds to treatment her parents may be forced to find £250,000 so she can receive pioneering treatment abroad.

Her parents, Martin and Rachel Owen, are now anxiously awaiting the results of a scan to see if a chemotherapy treatment is having any effect on her.

Up until last Christmas, Ruby was just a normal, healthy little girl, but when she started to have trouble staying on her feet, her parents realised something was wrong.

Martin, aged 38, of Kidsgrove, said: "It got to the point where she was wobbling about even when she was resting against the wall.

"Then we were watching a documentary about another sick little girl, where they mentioned her eye was gliding towards her nose. We both looked at each other and realised Ruby did that as well."

Ruby had a brain scan at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire on May 1, and was immediately sent to Alder Hey Children's Hospital, in Liverpool, for treatment.

Surgeons managed to remove 95 per cent of the tumour in one prolonged operation, but the remaining five per cent could still be a major problem.

Martin added: "It was the longest eight and a half hours of my life."

Ruby is now undergoing a course of chemotherapy to treat the remaining tumour, and has returned to Alder Hey for a scan that will reveal if the treatment is working.

Since Ruby has been in hospital, both Martin and Rachel have had to give up their jobs working for their fire alarm business, Leamar Fire, in order to become full-time carers.

They now take it in turns to stay with Ruby at hospital, while also caring for her 10-year-old sister Charlotte.

Martin added: "Ruby's only two so she doesn't understand what's going on at all. To her, this is just something that all two-year-olds go through."

If the chemotherapy does not work, one possible alternative treatment could be radiotherapy, although this is not usually given to children so young as their brains are still growing.

Martin said: "We've been told there are only two machines in the world they can use, one in Geneva and I think one in France. The treatment would cost £250,000, so we'd have to sell our house, our car and everything else."

The Owens' friends and family in Kidsgrove have rallied around to support the family since Ruby was taken ill.

Andy Litherland, a firefighter at Kidsgrove fire station, has known Martin for 15 years after playing football together.

On Saturday he and his colleagues spent the day washing cars at Tesco, in Kidsgrove, in order to raise £510 for Ruby.

Andy said: "I've known Martin for a while now. Everyone was happy to do this for them."