A ray of hope for little Naomi as she flies to Great Ormond

Like any three-year-old girl, Naomi Incorvaja had bundles of energy and her cheeks always radiated with a healthy glow after hours of frolicking around.

Now five, her rosy complexion has been replaced with a ghostly white and her bones almost protrude through her fragile frame, which is host to a number of pipes attached to her hospital bed.

Yesterday her trademark smile faded as she waited to be transferred from the ambulance to an Air Malta plane for her first trip abroad - to Great Ormond Street Hospital in the UK.

"I first sensed something was wrong with Naomi when she was three and I remember seeing her go up the stairs with her back bent in a crooked fashion," said her grandmother, Rose Tabone, who dotes on her first grandchild.

Since she has had four children, Mrs Tabone has a sharp eye for developmental problems and she immediately alerted the child's parents, Dennis and Sandra.

They took Naomi to several physiotherapists and each one confirmed that there was nothing wrong with her spine.

"At four she began to lose her balance and when she started school at Lija primary we realised she was also slightly physically slower than her school friends," Mrs Tabone said.

Despite losing her balance, nothing took away the child's love for life and she kept at it, always doing her utmost in everything she did.

Having enrolled at a local dance school, her dream was to become a dancer. She supplemented her lack of balance with her quick sense of learning.

However, things took a turn for the worse in March and after undergoing numerous examinations and tests, doctors discovered that there was a defect in her brain.

The situation got worse three months ago when she started to vomit every time she ate and eventually she had to be hospitalised.

Now, Naomi does not eat anything and she is permanently kept on a drip to ensure she gets the necessary nutrients.

"Doctors cannot put a finger on what Naomi has exactly and they recommended that due to her serious condition she should be flown to the UK for further medical examinations," Mrs Tabone said.

However, despite the trauma she is undergoing, Naomi refuses to let anything dent her cheerful nature.

"She gets a lot of visitors at the hospital and the nurses go out of their way to help her. Her parents are always by her side, too," Mrs Tabone said.

Having an insatiable appetite for watching television programmes, the young girl makes sure she never misses an episode of Angli.

Every night her mother tucks her into bed and Naomi will not go to sleep unless she has cuddled up with her baby doll, whom she has named after her hero Gabriel.

On Tuesday night she was grinning from ear to ear as she got ready for her hero's visit and she wrote I love you on a piece of paper and drew a big red heart to give to him.

Naomi's father sat next to his mother-in-law, his hands clasped tight as if in prayer, occasionally looking up to recount one of his child's antics.

"We do not know how long we will be in the UK. What's important is that we come back with Naomi fit and healthy," he said, as he quickly wiped the tears from his face.

A painter by profession, Dennis had just left his job to start his own business when Naomi's condition took a turn for the worse.

He tried to keep up with his appointments, but obviously clients were not too happy when he would leave midway through the job to be by his daughter's bedside.

"It was unfair on my clients so I decided to close shop for now and start again once this is sorted," he said.

"We believe there could be a ray of hope that maybe one day Naomi could be back running around and enjoying life to the full," he whispered as if barely believing what he was saying.

Thanks to the reciprocal health agreement between Malta and the UK, all Naomi's medical and travel expenses are covered by the government.

The government also pays the travel and accommodation for one parent to accompany the child to the UK. However, in this case a nurse is accompanying the girl, so the parents have to pay their way.

The family are not well off and need every penny they can get to get through this. Those who wish to help may send a donation to Bank of Valletta account: 40012122457.