A YOUNG woman whose dream came true thanks to kindhearted Birmingham Mail readers after she was diagnosed with a rare terminal illness has died.

Kimberley Van Gollen, from Redditch, suffered from the rare genetic and eventually terminal disease leucodystrophy, which slowly robbed her of her mobility and senses.

But she defied the odds to live to 19, more than double the life-expectancy doctors gave people with such a condition.

Kim, as she was known to friends, died at Acorns Hospice on Tuesday morning with her mum, Sarah, grandmother, Diane, and friends at her bedside.

Her plight touched the hearts of Mail readers when it was first reported in 1998.

They dug deep to raise £13,000 to help the Make a Wish Foundation send her on the trip of a lifetime to Disneyland.

By then Kim was beginning to lose the use of her legs and sight of one of her eyes.

But the brave girl found two guardian angels in the form of Pcs Nigel Bennett and Mark Rowley, who first met Kim during a school visit and went on to launch ‘Kim’s Dream Appeal’ which touched the hearts of people.