DONATIONS have come rolling in for the family of a young boy battling a rare form of cancer – thanks to Stephen Fry.

The actor and TV presenter posted a link to a fundraising site telling the story of 19-month-old Fintan Morley-Smith on the social networking website twitter.com.

Fintan was diagnosed with a rare eye cancer called retinoblastoma at the age of four months.

His father James sent a message to Mr Fry asking if he could post a link to the donations page – which he duly did.

Since then, dozens of people have decided to sponsor Mr Morley-Smith, who is running the London Marathon later this year to raise money for the Childhood Eye Cancer Trust, after seeing the post on Mr Fry's page.

It led to Mr Morley-Smith increasing his fundraising target from £4,000 to £10,000 – having already doubled it from £2,000.

He said it “made his day” to see Mr Fry - who used to live in the same Chesham street as Mr Morley-Smith, although not at the same time as him - had posted the link to the donations page.

There was also a link to a Bucks Free Press article telling the story of Fintan's harrowing battle against the rare condition – which was read by more than 16,000 people yesterday.

Earlier this week a mystery donor gave £1,000 towards the charity.

Mr Morley-Smith, of Coningsby Road, High Wycombe said this week: “We were shocked and touched. We were lost for words at the generosity of everyone but especially a donation like that.

“We'd like to say thank you to them, as I can't do it personally.”

The amount was left on Mr Morley-Smith's Just Giving website by donors named 'Simon, Sandra, Emily and Michael', along with a message that said: “Saw the article in the Bucks Free Press. We wish Fintan and the family all the best. Great charity and a magnificent effort on your part James.”

No email address was left for Mr Morley-Smith to make a personal thank-you.

Around one child a week is diagnosed with retinoblastoma. The condition is very treatable, but the longer it goes unnoticed, the greater the risk of eyesight loss.

To sponsor Mr Morley-Smith on his marathon run, go to www.justgiving.com/jamesmorleysmith For more information on retinoblastoma, go to www.chect.org.uk, email info@chect.org.uk, or call 020 7377 5578.