by Simon Tulett

A mother battling to see her children grow up has won her appeal to have potentially life-saving drugs funded by the NHS.

Nikki Phelps faced having to pay for £100-a-day cancer drug Sunitinib out of her own pocket when bosses at NHS West Kent refused to fund her treatment earlier this year.

A year of treatment would have cost the mother of two and her family £36,000, prompting concerns over whether they would be able to keep their home in Wrangling Lane, Luddesdown.

But in a dramatic u-turn health chiefs have now decided to fund the drug.

A spokesman for NHS West Kent said: "After reviewing the current application for the cancer treatment Sunitinib, NHS West Kent has decided to fund the drug in this case."

A group of friends had already raised more than £12,000 to keep the 37-year-old mother of two alive before the health trust overturned its verdict.