A MOTHER-OF-ONE faces a race against time against the aggressive effects of her multiple sclerosis, with her 'only hope' to find enough money for an experimental treatment in Mexico.

Nina Cosgrove, 38, was diagnosed with progressive MS on Valentine's Day 2015 and has seen her freedom of movement deteriorate quickly.

Her condition is likely to get worse and leave her permanently disabled - unless she can raise £35,000 before Friday for a pioneering treatment not yet available on the NHS.

Mrs Cosgrove, who lives in Woodstock with husband Tom and daughter Isobel, five, said: Mrs Cosgrove said: "It's a downward slope. Every day is worse than the day before. It's a really depressing thought; I'm just getting worse and worse.

"I thought, I can't just stop and let my body disintegrate. I have to take action and fundraise to get this treatment abroad."

When daughter Isobel started school Mrs Cosgrove, who works for a science publisher, had planned to start working full time but could not do so because of the fatigue.

The type of MS she is suffering from, 'primary progressive', affects 10 to 15 per cent of MS patients and sees symptoms slowly get worse over time.

Mrs Cosgrove said: "I was diagnosed having had problems for quite a few years before.

"Now I have very stiff legs and I walk with a stick all the time. I can't walk a significant distance so I rely on driving and have a wheelchair.

"It impacts my life all the time. The smallest thing makes me tired; just carrying a basket of washing down the stairs, I have to sit down."

Since her initial diagnosis she has received some support from the MS Trust and last year her firm, Kidlington-based Elsevier, raised £4,000 for the charity.

In August she was referred by her GP to a doctor at Charing Cross Hospital in London, but was told she was not eligible for trial treatments on the NHS after an MRI scan showed no new lesions, the telltale scars of MS, on the brain or spinal cord and therefore was not considered a priority.

After being told she could not receive the treatment in this country, Mrs Cosgrove arranged the month-long treatment trip to Clinica Ruiz in Puebla City, Mexico, for the Hematopoietic Stem Cell Therapy (HSCT), a new treatment for MS.

The process involves harvesting stem cells from the body, undergoing chemotherapy to wipe out the immune system and then re-introducing the stem cells.

This reboots the immune system so the body 'forgets' the MS, similar to treatments used in cancer care for the past 30 years.

The treatment will cost £53,000 and will take between a matter of weeks and two years to take effect.

Mrs Cosgrove has booked a date with the clinic in late April and she has a deadline of Friday, March 2 to get the money together.

Along with her family, she has raised £18,000 and are trying to gather the rest via an online crowdfunding page, which has so far raised just shy of £4,000.

She said: "The longer you leave it the more damage you are experiencing. There are no drugs that will help. Without being too melodramatic, it really is my only hope."

A co-study into HSCT, the largest yet and funded by national charity the MS Society, found it could have long-term benefits for some people with MS.

David Schley, MS Society research communications manager, said: "HSCT is a hugely promising treatment that offers a lot of hope for people with certain types of MS.

"It can stop relapses and improve disability in people who have ‘active inflammation’ in their brain and spinal cord. We’ve seen some life-changing results so far.

"It’s an aggressive procedure and, as with many treatments of this nature, comes with the risk of serious side effects.

For more information or to donate to the cause visit justgiving.com/crowdfunding/nina-cosgrove or for information on MS and treatments visit mssociety.org.uk