New drive launched by Florence Bark's mum to get people to sign up to stem cell register

The mum of a little girl from Corby who was diagnosed with life-threatening leukaemia last year has launched a drive to get people to sign up to the stem cell register.

Florence Bark’s mum has joined forces with other mums from around the country and is holding a swabbing event in Corby on Sunday, which she’s urging local people to attend.

Children with acute myeloid leukaemia may have a stem cell transplant from a donor – and the closer the match, the better the chance of success.

In May last year, Florence Bark was a fun-loving pupil at Oakley Vale Primary. But after falling ill, she was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia. Her prognosis was grave because she had a rare genetic makeup and there was no exact match for her on the bone marrow register.

Her parents Andy, headteacher at Kingswood Primary, and Stacey, who worked at Corby Urgent Care Centre, acted quickly. They knew that if a transplant failed they would have to get Florrie abroad quickly for last-ditch expensive treatment.

The response from Corby was overwhelming. Last summer thousands of people from across the town and surrounding areas joined together to hold a special sixth birthday fundraising drive for Florrie. They raised more than half a million pounds in just one month. Since then, the Be More Fab campaign has raised a total of almost £700,000.

It will be used to fund Florrie’s treatment abroad, should she need it in the future, and to help meet her needs throughout her life.

She is now cancer free but, as with any serious childhood illness, there have been repercussions for her long-term health and she has spent many weeks in and out of hospital during the past few months.

Now Stacey has joined together with mums of other children with blood cancer and other disorders to launch a new bid to get more people to sign up to the stem cell register to ensure no other family finds themselves in the same situation.

The campaign is called Swab to Save a child’s life and on Sunday (September 17) the Be More Fab team will be at The former Santander unit at 3 Spencer Court in Corby along with DKMS who will be swabbing and recruiting donors.

The same will be happening at other venues up and down the country to help the team get as many sign-ups as possible.

Stacey said: “Corby was incredible last year and we’re so grateful for all your help and support - we will never forget how much you all have done for the family - and we’d love to keep the awareness going so we can save as many people as possible with blood cancer.”

You can find more details here and at the hashtag #swabtosaveachild. If you cannot attend Sunday’s event, you can sign up to join the register here via an easy cheek swab which will be sent to you through the post.