New Delhi: A top private Indian hospital offered on Monday to examine an 18-month-old girl suffering from a rare but treatable illness that has caused her head to swell to more than double its normal size.

The decision raises hope that eighteen-month-old Roona Begum, who suffers from hydrocephalus, a disorder which causes cerebrospinal fluid to build up on the brain, will get the life-saving surgery she urgently requires. As her impoverished parents are not able to pay for the treatment, her head is swollen to a circumference of 91 centimetres.

The publication of pictures taken by an AFP photographer in Tripura last Friday led numerous well-wishers to step forward offering donations, while a website has been set up to collect money for her.