Tamworth family's bake sale raised funds to help get sick child Eli Whittaker to Sydney for diagnosis

Cars lined up around the block to support the fundraiser for Eli Whittaker, 11, to afford to visit his closest paediatric gastroenterologist in Sydney.

The baked goodies were sold out in less than an hour on Sunday, and by Monday Eli was in the big smoke, with his procedures set for Tuesday.

"We should have the results within a week or less, and we've been informed that these pathology results from the biopsies that they will take will give us a definitive diagnosis," mother Jade Whittaker said.

"So then we can treat him accordingly and get him back on a healthy path."

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Faced with waiting another 12 months on the list for public healthcare, Ms Whittaker began brainstorming ways to pay for a private specialist.

It has cost about $4000 to discover precisely what is wrong with Eli.

"They have done various tests from brain scans, blood tests, ultrasounds, CT scans, with no real definitive results," Ms Whittaker said.

With more than $3000 in personal funds and donations already gathered, the $867 raised through the bake sale got the family over the line.

The bake sale went better than expected, Ms Whittaker said, with people showing up an hour early.

"It restores your faith in humanity, because this has been nothing short of amazing what the Tamworth community has done for my little family," she said.

"It's been overwhelming support and something that Eli will remember for the rest of his life."

The family expects some challenges will come with treatment, including travelling to follow-up appointments with the private paediatric gastroenterologist.

"Regional patients, I think we get left behind a lot," she said.

"It's the lack of specialist care that we're able to bring to the region that leads to situations that Eli and I have found ourselves in, and why we've had to come this far and ask for the community support to kind of rally around us to make it possible to get here."

But for a boy who has been unwell for a long time, the bake sale brought him more than money.

"He cried tears of happiness," she said.

"He couldn't believe that so many people rallied together to support him and show him that they care about him and his well being.

"It's definitely been an eye opener for him on how positive our community can be when we band together."

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