FAMILY friends of a little girl fighting a rare form of cancer will be jumping out of a plane to raise money for treatment.
Bradley Harris and work colleague Duncan Rudall, will be braving the jump from 15,000 feet, to help raise money for Florentina Burton.
Florentina, four, was diagnosed with high-risk neuroblastoma in May this year, the night before her fourth birthday.
Neuroblastoma mostly affects babies and young children, most commonly occurring in one of the adrenal glands above the kidneys, or in the nerve tissue that runs alongside the spinal cord in the neck, chest, stomach, or pelvis.
Florentina has so far undergone several months of treatment, including chemotherapy.
After only recently giving birth to a new baby, Sophia, in August, mum Amelia had to leave her newborn to isolate with Flo in Great Ormond Street Hospital in London during her treatment.
Friends: Florentina with Brody Harris, son of family friends and old neighbours Brad and Harriet
The family is hoping to raise £250,000 to take Florentina to New York for the Bivalent Vaccine.
The treatment in New York will consist of five trips to the US, each trip lasting longer than a week.
The vaccines will be spread out over several months and will entail treatment in the hospital.
It is a potentially life-saving treatment and is the only paediatric tumour vaccine in existence and maximises the survival rate in the event of a relapse.
So far, a total of £122,023 has been raised.
Neighbours: Ex-neighbours and family friends Harriet and Bradley Harris want to help the family out, with Brad set to skydive later this month
Bradley and his wife, Harriet Harris, are friends of the Burton family.
Before moving elsewhere in Braintree in March, they lived next to the Burtons.
Now, Bradley is preparing to do the 15,000ft skydive to raise some more funds to get Florentina her treatment in New York.
He said: “I can’t wait to skydive, I’m very excited not just for that but to help Flo.
“At the end of the day, every and any penny counts, and this will really help too.”
Bradley has so far raised £9,383 of his £10,000 goal.
To donate to the skydive, visit justgiving.com/crowdfunding and search for Bradley Harris.
To donate to the appeal raising money to get Florentina to New York, visit justgiving.com/crowdfunding/florentina-burton.
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