In under 24 hours over 2,000 people have signed a petition addressed to Prime Minister David Cameron, asking him to release life-saving medicine for a 12-year-old girl.

Abi Longfellow has a rare kidney disease that could kill her in five years if she does not receive the treatment she needs.

That treatment is kept under lock and key just yards away from her hospital bed - but thanks to a loophole, doctors are forbidden from giving it to her, as reported in the Sunday People.

Abi’s one-in-a-million illness is too rare to be covered by NHS England’s drug funding policy but not rare enough to unlock cash for exceptional cases.

And the manufacturer Alexion Pharmaceuticals has refused to drop the eye-watering £136,000-a-year price, ­making it impossible for her family to buy the drug privately.

You can sign the e-petition here.

Abi in an isolation room at Leeds General Infirmary

Experts predict that when Alexion’s licence on the drug, Eculizumab, runs out in 2020 the price could plummet to the same as a packet of paracetamol.

But by then it could be too late.

Abi has taken it upon herself to appeal to David Cameron in a heartfelt letter, in which she writes: “I’m a 12-year old English girl and if I lived in Ireland, Europe, America, Canada etc I would get the medicine without hesitation.

“So I want to know why am I being disadvantaged in my own country?"

Touching: Abi's letter to the Prime Minister (
Image:
ITV)

The Sunday People has created a change.org petition asking David Cameron and his government to allow NHS funding to give Abi the life-saving medicine she needs.

In under 24 hours, the petition has amassed over 2,000 signatures. According to gov.uk, e-petitions require 100,000 signatures before they can be debated in the House of Commons. If you would like to sign it, follow the link below.

Sign the e-petition here