Ryan Reynolds donates £10,000 to Deeside girl with rare cancer

A teenager diagnosed with a rare form of cancer will travel to New York this Christmas thanks to a donation from Hollywood star Ryan Reynolds.

Lexi Collins, 13, from Deeside, Flintshire, was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer of the heart at the end of June and has undergone two open-heart surgeries, had a pacemaker fitted and started chemotherapy.

Asked what her biggest wish was, Lexi, a huge fan of the classic film Home Alone, said she wanted to visit New York at Christmas.

Her family are hoping to raise £20,000 to make her dream reality and said Lexi was “shellshocked” when she heard about the donation from Wrexham AFC co-owner Reynolds.

Lexi’s mother Becky Collins said she had gone to hospital initially with a headache and fever that could not be brought under control.

Doctors then found a mass on her heart and a biopsy found that the tumour was malignant.

Cancerous lymph nodes in her were also found in her lungs.

The past few months were a “whirlwind of hospital stays, fear, and uncertainty”, Ms Collins said on the family’s crowdfunding page, and on Monday she told BBC Radio Wales Drive that Lexi had “the strength of 100 people”.

Lexi is “absolutely obsessed” with Home Alone, Ms Collins said, and especially wanted to see the famous Christmas tree at New York’s Rockefeller Center which protagonist Kevin McCallister visits in the movie.

The family also want to create Lexi’s dream bedroom at home where she can rest and recover “surrounded by comfort and joy”.

Wrexham Police FC have also been raising money for Lexi and on Sunday, thanked “long time Wrexham Police FC supporter and friend Ryan Reynolds” for his “incredible generosity”.

“She just couldn’t believe it,” said Ms Collins, adding Lexi was “in shock and crying”.

“It’s been crazy,” she said.

Lexi is already picking her outfit for the trip and her doctors have said they would try to fit the trip in between treatments.