Flora loves playing at the beach, splashing in the sea, playing at the park, and building puzzles. She is a huge Peppa Pig fan and enjoys playing Peppa games on her tablet.
In January 2021, after several hospital appointments, Flora was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. In the months that followed, Flora wasn't herself and her parents were given the devastating news that at just two years old she had high-risk neuroblastoma, an aggressive childhood cancer that has a 40-50% chance of long-term survival at diagnosis.
Flora’s family appealed for help to raise £252,000 so Flora could enrol on the bivalent vaccine clinical trial in New York after frontline treatment, with the aim of keeping the cancer away. Her end of treatment scans in August 2022 showed Flora had no evidence of active disease, which meant she was eligible for the trial, and thanks to the campaign’s incredible community of support, she started the trial in September 2022.
Sadly, scans in September 2023 showed that Flora’s cancer had returned. Treating relapsed neuroblastoma successfully is particularly challenging and treatment options available on the NHS are limited. The family continue to fundraise should Flora need potentially life-saving treatment to get her back into remission that is not available through the NHS.
Flora's incredible supporters raised £305,000 during her previous fundraising campaign, of which £147,000 remained as the total available funds which will go towards any further treatment that Flora may need which is outside of the NHS.
Flora had several hospital visits and investigations into her health and development prior to her neuroblastoma diagnosis and in January 2021, she was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. In the months that followed this diagnosis, her parents, Jamie and Stephanie noticed that Flora wasn’t quite herself. She was irritable, waking in the night and had an upset tummy and swollen lymph nodes. They took her to the GP three times over the course of the month only to be told she had a viral infection.
By the end of March, Flora had deteriorated further and was admitted to hospital. She was pale, lethargic and had bruising around her eyes. Blood tests showed that Flora was anaemic and further tests were carried out. It was an agonising wait for Flora's parents.
At the beginning of April, after finding a large tumour next to one of her kidneys and cancer in her skull, behind her eyes and in her bone marrow, Flora was diagnosed with stage 4 high-risk neuroblastoma.
Flora underwent 18 months of frontline treatment, including multiple rounds of chemotherapy, a seven-hour surgery to remove her tumour, five weeks of high-dose chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant in isolation, radiotherapy and immunotherapy. This was alongside countless scans and tests, general anaesthetics, and blood transfusions that go hand in hand with receiving cancer treatment.
The side effects of treatment are tough, but Flora’s cheeky personality still shines through despite the pain and discomfort she endures. Even on the darkest and hardest of days, Flora lights up the room with her infectious smile. Flora was the cheekiest child on the ward and enjoyed running around the corridors and making lots of noise!
Flora completed her frontline treatment for neuroblastoma in August 2022 and her end-of-treatment scans showed no evidence of active disease, which meant she was eligible for the bivalent vaccine clinical trial.
To say that Flora has been dealt a difficult start in life is an understatement. Despite the challenges she faces and the trauma she has been through over the past 9 months, she is the happiest and most affectionate little girl! There are days you would have no idea she's even battling a life-threatening illness. But there are also days where Flora is incredibly ill and as parents, it is frightening and heart breaking to witness." Flora’s parents, Jamie and Stephanie
Funds raised through Flora’s campaign enabled her to go on to enrol on the clinical trial in New York in September 2022 with the aim of keeping the cancer away for good.
Flora and her family travelled to New York three times and Flora received six vaccines as part of the trial. Devastatingly, during routine scans required for the trial in September 2023, it was identified that Flora had relapsed meaning she was unable to continue with the trial.
Since then, Flora has restarted NHS treatment and undergone two cycles of a chemotherapy and immunotherapy combination.
Like with all of her previous treatment, she’s had to deal with side effects like lowered blood counts, pain, nausea, tummy upset, changes in her mood and trouble sleeping. She’s had to adjust to regular trips to hospital again with unwanted pokes and prods, unpredictability, isolation and missing out on all of the fun things we had just started being able to enjoy again." Flora’s parents, Jamie and Steph
There are manyways you can help Flora: by making a personal donation; by sharing and following her story on Facebook , Instagram or Twitter, holding a fundraising event; getting sponsored to take on a challenge.
To donate by text, send FLORA followed by any whole amount up to £20 to 70085. This will cost your donation plus your standard network charge. It wont matter if you leave a space before the number, if you include a £ sign or whether you use upper or lower case.
You canmake a donationvia this page.
If youd like to help to support Floras campaign, please get in touch with the fundraising team on 0207 284 0800 andfundraising@solvingkidscancer.org.uk
Funds raised will go towards helping Flora and her family. If Flora no longer needs the funds or is in remission five years post the end of successful treatment, the funds will be used to support other children and families affected by neuroblastoma through our activities. For children with high-risk neuroblastoma, like Flora, the survival rate is much lower than other childhood cancers. Upon relapse, this rate reduces even further.
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