A MOTHER'S kiss for a special little birthday girl - a poignant demonstration of the love surrounding Hannah Maxwell-Jones . . .

Watched by Father Christmas, Hannah shares a tender moment with mum Allison on a day which saw an astonishing public response to an appeal to help her lead a normal life.

Hannah is two today, and the years ahead will, hopefully, now be easier for her thanks to the people of the North-East and North Yorkshire - and particularly readers of The Northern Echo.

A target of £20,000 had been set to enable Hannah, from Nunthorpe, Middlesbrough, to be taken to America for surgery on a severe facial disfigurement.

And by last night - after a Ring In For Hannah Day at The Northern Echo - about £30,000 was in the appeal fund.

Readers pledged about £14,000 in only ten hours and more money poured into an account set up at branches of Barclays Bank.

More than £5,000 had been pledged within an hour of our telephone hotlines opening. Century FM presenter Paul "Goffy" Gough led the way with a £1,000 donation made live on his breakfast show.

Hannah visited The Northern Echo's offices in Darlington yesterday morning to say hello to staff manning the phone lines. She also met advertising staff who had raised thousands of pounds.

Santa Claus even made the short trip from the Cornmill shopping centre to hand over a giant cuddly Dumbo.

Hannah suffers from a haemangioma, or tumour of the blood vessels, which has left her badly disfigured.

She is being cared for at Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital in London, where she will begin laser treatment in January.

But following discussions with experts in this country and abroad, her parents Allison and Keith decided her best chance of a normal life was to go to Arkansas in America for surgery carried out by Professor Milton Waner, a world expert in birthmarks.

Allison, a staff nurse at South Cleveland Hospital, said last night: "We are simply lost for words. We never expected anything like this - we can't thank you all enough."

Allison announced that the appeal had now closed.

Any money left over after Hannah's scheduled five operations will be placed in a charity trust fund for the treatment of other people with disfigurements.

Jane O'Byrne, The Northern Echo's promotions manager, who led the telephone team, said: "Some of the callers were so moved by Hannah's plight, tears were shed as they called us.

"The lines never stopped ringing and the response has been beyond our wildest expectations.

"Our staff manning the lines were also caught up in the emotion, hearing how Hannah's story had touched the region."

Facing the future - Page 3