A CHARITY has stepped in with a £110,000 donation to help save the family of tragic cancer patient Phoebe Morley from financial ruin.

The American organisation contacted the Florida Hospital in Kissimmee where 76-year-old Mrs Morley was treated after being diagnosed with terminal cancer of the bowel and kidney in the summer.

The Blackburn pensioner failed to declare she had been diagnosed with gallstones at Blackburn Infirmary before she flew out on her two-week holiday to Florida, prompting her insurance company to refuse to pay for her treatment.

The charity has now offered to pay off the hospital bill of $172,294 - around £110,000.

The family still has doctors' bills to pay, which they expect to amount to more than £20,000, but the news has come as a huge relief.

Husband Peter Morley has now shelved plans to sell off his house to help pay the debts.

Mrs Morley, of Bolton Road, Ewood, was flown back to England by a specially chartered Air Ambulance paid for by Prince Aziz of Brunei, after he heard of her plight, and was transferred straight to Blackburn Royal Infirmary, where she died in August.

Peter said today he was stunned when the hospital sent him the revised bill.

The charity has asked to remain anonymous and the family have been unable to find out details of why they decided to help.

He said: "I saw the dollar sign and the noughts next to it and I couldn't understand. I contacted the hospital who told me about the charity.

"I couldn't believe it, it's a massive weight off our shoulders.

"Obviously there is still a lot to pay but it's a lot more manageable than it was."

The charity contacted the hospital after hearing of the plight on an American TV news channel.

A spokesman for the Florida Hospital confirmed the bill had been paid.

She added: "We do not know the name of the charity either. But this kind of thing is not unusual in America."