Updated - Father bans his 4-year-old daughter from Make-A-Wish trip to Disney World

[Wendy]

A four-year-old cancer survivor's dream Make-A-Wish Foundation trip to Disney World has been cancelled by her own father - because he thinks only dying children deserve the charity's money.

McKenna May, from Haskins, Ohio, was granted $3,500 (£2,235) to fund a once-in-a-lifetime holiday to the Florida theme park, after spending half her short life undergoing agonising treatment for lieukaemia.

But the brave little girl has been left devastated after her father William May refused to sign a consent form allowing her to go.

Since she was diagnosed with cancer in April 2010, McKenna has undergone 15 spinal taps, multiple chemotherapy treatments, and a series of steroid injects. She has been hospitalised numerous times.

She underwent her final treatment last month after showing signs of beating the disease, but won't won't be officially cancer-free for another five years.

To cheer her up during the painful treatments, McKenna's mother Whitney Hughes and grandmother Lori Helppie applied to the Make-A-Wish foundation.

Moved by her plight, the charity granted McKenna her wish and agreed to pay for the family to travel to Disney World in Florida.

But before the trip could be booked, both parents had to sign a consent form. And William May refused.

Speaking to the Bowling Green Sentinel-Tribune newspaper, he argued the gift was an improper use of donations, and that handouts should be reserved for 'kids who only have six months to live'.

Mr May admitted he is angry with his ex-wife and her mother, who he claims are preventing him from seeing his daughter. He told the Sentinel-Tribune: 'I wasn't allowed to be involved. It ticked me off.'

Ms Hughes and Ms Hellpie have refused to give up hope they can still take McKenna to Disney World and are attempting the raise the money themselves, passing around collection jars in their local community.

Ms Helppie said: 'The important thing is to get her there. She loves Mickey Mouse. She loves Cinderella.'

Ms Hughes added: 'She's really excited. It's all she's talked about for the last three months.'

Charity chiefs are, meanwhile, bewildered by the row - having ruled McKenna was clearly deserving of the trip.

Susan McConnell, president and CEO of Make-A-Wish for Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana, told the Sentinel-Tribune: 'The doctors are the ones who determine if she is qualified. She's been through a lot. What I really feel bad about is she is stuck in the middle.'