 AN AMERICAN woman who failed to find a vet to treat a cancer-stricken horse re-mortgaged her house so she could fly him to a Merseyside specialist. Mindy Elgart was distraught when Max developed a cancerous tumour on his eye. The six-year-old horse had just won the regional heats of the USA Dressage Championship and was tipped to go on to international success. Miss Elgart, a strategist for a lingerie company, frantically consulted experts across the United States but they could only offer gruelling surgery with a 30% chance of survival. But the 38-year-old heard about the work of Professor Derek Knottenbelt, at Leahurst Equine hospital, in Wirral, who uses a radiation treatment similar to that used on humans and has had a 90% success rate. Within weeks she had raised the $25,000, around £14,000, needed to transport him to the centre and cover his costs. Miss Elgart, who lives in New Jersey, said: "I would do anything to save Max, I adore him. He's such an amazing horse. "I've been riding all my life, I'm a serious amateur, but of all the horses he is my favourite, I have such a connection with him. "He's very smart and has a real 'I can do that' attitude.. He loves attention and is very friendly and interested. "He is very pretty and personable. "The tumour kept getting bigger and bigger and I contacted so many vets across the States but they couldn't help. "A friend mentioned about Prof Knottenbelt and I contacted him and just knew it was the only chance. It has cost $25,000 and I've had to take out a homeowner's loan to cover it, although I've had some help from friends who held a fundraiser. "It has not been a responsible financial decision, but I had to do it to save him." Prof Knottenbelt, who is senior lecturer in equine medicine at Liverpool University, looked at photographs of Max and discussed his symptoms with Mindy over the phone. The horse was then flown to Stansted Airport by an American horse transport company, and from there driven up to the hospital near Neston. He then underwent 13 days of a treatment called brachytherapy, which meant wires directing radiation were implanted round his eye and nose, followed by two days in isolation. | 
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