Police join bid to find bone marrow match for Corby's Florence

Police officers and staff from across the county will be tested this week to see if they are a bone marrow transplant match for Corby’s Florence Bark.

Florence, who turned six earlier this month, has rare acute myeloid leukemia that has left her in hospital for gruelling rounds of chemotherapy.

She is due to go for a bone marrow transplant at the beginning of August in Sheffield, but there is currently no complete donor match.

This Friday (July 22) charity Anthony Nolan will be coming to two police stations in the county to get as many officers and staff tested and put on the stem cell register.

Event organiser inspector Beth Warren said: “When I heard about Florence, I wanted to do as much as possible to raise awareness of her story and to help her and her family to raise the money needed to get her the treatment she requires.

“Hopefully the events we’ve organised for this Friday will get as many officers and staff on the stem cell register as possible and there will also be collection buckets as well to add to the treatment fund.”

Last month Florence’s parents Andrew and Stacey set up an appeal to raise half-a-million pounds for possible last-chance Car T-Cell therapy, which is not offered on the NHS, if the transplant doesn’t work.

Earlier today we reported that the appeal is nearing its target with the Corby’s youngster’s parents praising ‘Florence and the Fundraising Machine’.

Insp Warren added: “As the parent of a young girl myself, I honestly cannot imagine what Stacey and Andrew are going through.

"They are an incredibly brave family and I hope as many people as possible read about Florence so that no stone is left unturned in the goal of making this little girl better.”

The story of princess-loving Florence, a pupil at Oakley Vale Primary School, has been shared far and wide with musician Lethal Bizzle even recording a message for her. Many have changed their social media profile pictures to Florence’s orange and yellow rainbow logo.

How you can help

You can SHARE details of the campaign using the hashtag #bemorefab

You can SIGN UP here to become a blood stem cell donor if you are OVER 30

You can SIGN UP here to join the stem cell register if you are UNDER 30

You can DONATE here to give directly to Florence’s campaign, or click here.

- A fundraising event will be held in Desborough on Friday, July 29, to raise money for Florence Bark and Remembering Srebrenica.

Organisers will be bringing the Ibiza vibes to the by running an extra large Clubbercise class, which will include a night of dancing, glowsticks and fun to help raise money for these great causes. Desborough Leisure Centre will turned into a proper club with the lights turned off, the disco lights coming on and the sound system pumping. The event starts at 7.30pm and people can book online at https://bookwhen.com/clubbercisewithkai.