Locals' big party for cancer boy

RESIDENTS of a village in the Loir-et-Cher have teamed up to organise an unforgettable birthday party for an eight-year-old boy with terminal brain cancer.

Shopkeepers, family, friends and neighbours in Saint-Gervais-la-Forêt - population 3,300 - decided that Evan needed a big treat after doctors gave him a less than 30% chance of recovery and decided to stop treatment.

An online fundraising campaign helped generate the money needed, and volunteers from the village turned out to help with the organisation - hiring magicians, clowns, ponies and a bouncy castle.

Everyone in the village was invited to the party, at the primary school, with notices placed in the local paper.

Children came in fancy dress - with Evan and his brother dressed as videogame brothers Mario and Luigi - and a large cake in the shape of a castle was shared out.