Lily-Mae finally receives €27k donated to HMV

A brave girl battling life-threatening cancer has finally received thousands of euro in public donations that were at risk of disappearing into a legal black hole.

The family of five-year-old Lily-Mae Morrison, the girl made famous by the Tiny Dancer tribute song last year, have confirmed €27,000 in donations from HMV have been handed over.

The money, raised primarily through the sale of a charity single at HMV stores nationwide, was earlier this year in danger of never being provided.

This was because the music firm had gone into administration, and meant the planned donations were just one of a large number of more significant debts HMV needed to pay.

However, after the crisis emerged in January, Deloitte, the company overseeing HMV’s debts, said it would ensure the money was made available — with the full €27,000 fund finally provided in recent weeks.

Speaking to the Irish Examiner, Lily-Mae’s uncle, Paul Hayes, said the money will be split evenly between his niece’s care and the Neuroblastoma Society — an advocacy group for the type of cancer the little girl is battling.

He added that HMV and Deloitte deserve credit for putting “common decency” before legal requirements.

“When the concerns about the money first came up, Deloitte said they would make it a priority. Once we talked to them and appealed to their morality things started to happen.

“It was a worry, but we were always confident we would get the money in the end because there would have been a huge outcry if it disappeared into a legal hole,” he said.

Meanwhile, a special celebration night for everyone involved in fundraising for Lily-Mae will be held on Friday, May 10, at Munroes music centre in Galway City.

After the little girl’s condition was made public last year, the tribute cover of the Elton John classic reached number two in the Irish charts and number one on iTunes.

Lily-Mae is currently recovering from an advanced three week radiotherapy programme at University College London, a specialist treatment that was provided to give her a chance of winning her cancer fight.

* Further information is at thesunnimaetrust.ie