Cure appeal over ageing disease

Ashanti White's mother said she is "very bright"

The parents of a three-year-old girl who suffers from a rare ageing condition are appealing for money to be raised to help find a cure.

Wayne and Phoebe White, of Burgess Hill, West Sussex, also want to take their daughter Ashanti on a dream holiday to swim with dolphins.

Ashanti has progeria, which is fatal and causes the body to age eight times faster than normal.

She must go to hospital twice a month and is unlikely to live beyond 13.

"By the time she's 10 her internal organs will be like that of an 80-year-old lady," said Mr White.

"If a cure can be found and she can live a normal life, that would be our dreams answered," he added.

The condition of progeria has also been highlighted by Hayley Okines, another sufferer, aged seven, from Bexhill in East Sussex.