Flora, three, flies to New York for special cancer treatment

Hundreds of thousands of pounds were raised to help Flora Gentleman get to America to take part in a clinical trial.

The youngster, who is autistic, was diagnosed with stage four neuroblastoma in April last year.

Stephanie Kent and Jamie Gentleman flew from Edinburgh with their daughter on Saturday to begin the bivalent vaccine trial.

Stephanie spoke to the Courier the day before their departure and admitted there was a mix of excitement and nerves.

“We are really, really excited and treating it like a holiday,” she added.

“There is a lot of free time doing lots of things with Flora. We want to spoil her over there and we are really, really excited to go and explore New York but at the same time we are apprehensive.

“There is the fear of the unknown. We don’t know how the vaccine is going to go.

“You never know and it is always in the back of the mind.

“It is a holiday but a medical trip. We are looking forward to getting there and starting. We have been talking about it for 16 months.”

Stephanie and Jamie, both 30, posted an update on their Flora’s Fight Against Neuroblastoma page on Facebook before the trip.

They said: “There is a very small spot on the back of her skull on her MRI scan that is presumed inactive and matured as it has continued to shrink over the past 16 months, and unchanged from her previous scan.

“It no longer ‘lights up’ on her MIBG scan – a special scan that uses dye to light up the areas of the body with neuroblastoma.

“Sometimes these boney areas of disease can show up on scans years after treatment as they almost mimic a fracture.

“With this being said, we were nervous that Flora would not be eligible for the trial or would require further scans to investigate this small spot, as you must be in remission to enrol on the trial.

“The trial must begin within 45 days of your first end-of-treatment scan, so we have been working alongside a ticking clock!

“Last Friday, we spoke with the doctor leading the trial and he was happy with Flora’s scan results and thankfully she is eligible to enrol. We couldn’t be more relieved!

“The first trip will be a month long, with subsequent trips around a week long.

“The trial will last three years and will include eight vaccines in total.

“The trial aims to help Flora’s immune system to recognise neuroblastoma cells and to fight them, with the hope of reducing her chances of relapse.”

People from throughout East Lothian and beyond joined forces to organise a series of fundraising events in aid of Flora, who turns four on September 19.

Fundraising events ranged from family members taking on sponsored runs to a three-year-old pedalling from Longniddry to Haddington to raise “so many pennies” as the family attempted to find the £312,000 needed to be part of the trial.

The figure needed was reduced to £252,000 but fundraisers pushed on, with nearly £300,000 now raised.

Stephanie, of Aberlady, described the fundraising efforts as “amazing” and said: “We cannot thank people enough for getting us to the point where we can enrol her on the trial but to go further and continue fundraising too.

“She has autism, has never been on a flight and we are really nervous.

“She does not liked confined spaces or sitting for any length of time.

“We wanted to upgrade some of the flights where we can and people got on board and continued fundraising.

“It just means a lot that they seem to care.

“People always message to check how she is.

“People are invested and really care.”

Go to solvingkidscancer.org.uk/Appeal/flora to donate.