Grand National: Liverpool girl, 3, with tumour gets race honour

A three-year-old girl with a rare brain tumour has been given an honorary place on the racecard for this year's Grand National.

Edie Molyneux, from Liverpool, who has the 41st spot in Saturday's race at Aintree, is listed as Spider-Ede, after her favourite superhero Spider-Man.

Edie is in Mexico for treatment after her family say UK doctors told them her tumour was "inoperable".

Bradley Lowery, 5, who died in July had the first honorary spot last year.

Spider-Man is down as Edie's trainer on the racecard with her elder sister Niamh and younger brother Leonard her jockeys for the day.

The Jockey Club Racecourses said it works closely with the Bradley Lowery Foundation (BLF), which made it aware of Edie's story.

She was diagnosed with Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG) last November.

Edie's family are trying to raise £700,000 to cover the cost of "pioneering" treatment she is undergoing at the Instituto de Oncologia Intervencionista in Monterrey, Mexico.

Her mother Ashleigh set up the treatment after she said UK doctors told them her tumour was "inoperable, untreatable and fatal".

Mrs Molyneux said Edie was already "showing good progress".

Gemma Lowery, co-founder and chief executive of the BLF which is raising money for Edie's treatment said Bradley, from Sunderland, had an "amazing time" at the Grand National last year.

"His daddy and I have got special memories to treasure for the rest of our lives," she said.

She said giving him the 41st horse helped raise "crucial awareness" last year "and they are continuing to do that by supporting one of our children".

• Form of high-grade brain tumour which tends to grow quickly and is more likely to spread to other parts of the brain or spinal cord

• DIPGs originate in an area of the brainstem, known as the pons

• The pons is an area deep within the lower part of the brain responsible for a number of critical bodily functions, such as breathing, sleeping and blood pressure

• A child with a DIPG may display abnormal alignment of the eyes or/and double vision, weakness of facial muscles or facial asymmetry, arm and leg weakness, unstable balance and co-ordination or difficulties walking and speaking

Source: Brain Tumour Charity