An East Lothian family have been told they will have to come up with £312,000 to save their daughter's life.
Three-year-old Flora Gentleman was diagnosed with the devastating cancer neuroblastoma in her stomach last year.
Parents Steph and Jamie, of Alberlady, East Lothian had been hoping to send Flora to New York to be treated with a new bivalent vaccine being trialled in the US, with the drug being successful in preventing relapses of the condition.
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Now, the Record reports that Flora's parents are desperately trying to raise the necessary funds to get Flora on the drug trial in August after she has completed her gruelling NHS chemotherapy treatment in Scotland.
Steph said: “I had never heard of neuroblastoma, we never knew anything about childhood cancers.
“When we were waiting to find out what kind of cancer Flora had doctors were talking about leukaemia being one of the possibilities.
“The consultant was talking positively and saying they could cure it but when they said neuroblastoma there was a change of tone. I was really, really scared. It was terrifying.
“Neuroblastoma is a really aggressive cancer with a high chance of relapsing.”
The process of receiving the treatment in the US is not straightforward, however. Flora will only be able to receive the drug, if her family can raise the money, and if she avoids a relapse.
The first trip will be for three or four weeks, and Flora's parents would need to fly out straight after her treatment in Scotland to avoid a possible relapse.
In the past year she has had eight rounds of chemotherapy, followed by a seven-hour operation where the whole tumour was removed.
That was followed by high dose chemotherapy, where Flora was given an adult dose with a stem cell transplant and was in isolation for three weeks over her third birthday.
That was followed by three rounds of radiotherapy and she is now undergoing immunotherapy, which is scheduled to end in June.
And as if the tough treatment regimen was not enough, on May 2 she was rushed to hospital after developing sepsis. Steph said within an hour her temperature spiked and she turned blue.
In hospital the central line from which her drugs are administered was removed because it had become infected. She needed CPR to save her life.
Steph recalled: “We were really scared but within 24 hours she was back to running about and being bossy. It was amazing how she bounced back.
“We didn’t even have time to recover and process it before she was back to her usual self.” The couple’s friends and family have rallied and have been saving for the treatment almost since her diagnosis was confirmed.
They have already raised £200,000 but they have just three months to raise the rest.
The couple have the backing of the child cancer charity Solving Kids Cancer.
To donate to Flora’s fund visit here.
