A TEENAGER is facing a race against time in his battle to beat leukaemia.

Daniel Berry, aged 17, was diagnosed with a rare form of the disease in August.

Two sessions of chemotherapy have failed and if a third session is unsuccessful travelling to America for treatment could be his only hope.

His heartbroken parents Gary and Elaine Berry, of Crosby Grove, Atherton, are now desperately trying to raise the funds needed for the trip.

They have approached Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson in the hope he can raise the profile of their plight.

Reds fan Daniel, who has a 20-year-old brother, Mark, had just left Hesketh Fletcher High with seven GCSEs and was applying for an apprenticeship in mechanical engineering when he started to feel ill.

His mother, Elaine said: "We noticed he seemed very tired and had no energy a lot of the time. He was often sleeping in his room, looked very pale and began to lose weight.

"We took him for blood tests but we didn't expect to be told he had leukaemia. It was a huge shock and words can not express how we felt. Daniel was just about to start his adult life and up until that point he was a normal, healthy teenager. We are all devastated."

The family was dealt a further blow when Daniel's disease failed to respond to treatment. Two chemotherapy sessions failed to help and Daniel had to spend up to four weeks in isolation after each one, for fear of picking up an infection.

His next session at Hope Hospital in Salford will be an extreme dosage but if that fails doctors said there will be nothing more they can do.

His determined parents visited Manchester Royal Infirmary, where a professor told them about experimental treatment in Texas for the disease which does not respond to treatment -- known as refactory leukaemia.

Mrs Berry said: "We have our fingers crossed that the chemotherapy will work but we are already trying to raise funds just in case. It is our only option and we feel we must go through all the avenues available."

If you can help to raise funds phone Mr Berry on 07780 836151.