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Campaign to send two-year-old Florence Jackson from Speldhurst to America for cancer treament

Just four days after setting up a page on JustGiving, kind well wishers have raised more than £135,000 to get life saving treatment for Speldhurst toddler Florence Jackson.

The two-year-old's parents are in a race against time to raise the £250,000 needed to get her to America and fund the operation.

Today, Flo's father Rodney Jackson spoke to KentOnline about the family's fight.

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Florence Jackson needs treatment in the US
Florence Jackson needs treatment in the US

He said: "Back in November 2015 we took Flo to A&E because we noticed she really wasn't going to the toilet, she was constipated.

"My wife was there virtually all day and it was established that there was a mass in her abdomen through an ultrasound scan.

"We then went onto the Sutton Royal Marsden hospital for tests and other scans. She was diagnosed on December 2, 2015 with stage 4 neuroblastoma, which is the worst stage to have unfortunately.

"Florence had ten rounds of chemotherapy, then surgery which removed 80% of the tumour.

"They were hoping then that the heavy dose of chemo and the radiotherapy would then mop up and kill the rest of the tumour that was there.

"All things going to plan, we had a great summer and she was really well but a routine scan in November, when we were going through immunotherapy, unfortunately showed that the tumour had started re-growing which was devastating.

"We sort of picked ourselves up and started chemo again but over Christmas we noticed some blood in her stomach. About a week ago we found out through another scan that the tumour is impacting her stomach and causing it to bleed internally a bit.

"They are using drugs to try and clot the blood so it's not as bad. Because she improved last week we started a different chemo to try and reduce the tumour, to then have it removed. It is an uphill struggle.

Florence Jackson
Florence Jackson

"Last week we were told that there was nothing they could do and we were going to have to watch her finish the rest of her life and let the cancer take over.

"But I'm glad to say that she did improve on Thursday and Friday. We had a meeting Friday night with the doctors and they said they were happy to start a different chemo.

"We are just hoping and praying that this round of chemo will do its job to shrink the tumour so it can then be removed.

"Last week we were told that there was nothing they could do and we were going to have to watch her finish the rest of her life and let the cancer take over" - Rodney Jackson

"We started the first cycle last Saturday and cycle two starts tomorrow. We had a meeting with the British surgeon yesterday and he explained why it can't be removed - it has got to be reduced.

"But we heard very good stories about this surgeon in America - Dr Michael. P. La Quaglia - who can perform surgery that can't be dealt with here. But we have got to see the tumour reduced before that surgery can take place."

More than 5,500 friends, family and complete strangers have so far donated in a bid to help the tot.

Commenting on their generosity, Mr Jackson said: "It's humbling to see how many want to help, it has taken our minds off what's going on to a certain extent. It has been a huge help. So many friends, family and complete strangers are rallying around to help us and help little Flo out, it is amazing.

"I think we are just over half way as of today. We're up to £125,000 in just four days - I only posted on the JustGiving site at 11 o'clock Monday morning, it is just phenomenal.

"Despite everything, Flo is still fighting on.

"What we're hoping as Flo gets better, as she is improving at the moment, maybe they'll be able to use something stronger than they are using.

"Last week we were told there is nothing they can do and this is the last chance we have got to try and save her life.

"She was not good last week. She looked like a cancer patient, completely colourless and she'd lost a lot of weight.

"She's got a bit more colour to her now and she's interacting - I even got a smile out of her yesterday. There's not many smiles at the moment. But she's doing well.

"We just want to say thank you to everyone that has helped. It is just amazing what everyone is doing for us."

To donate click here. Follow Flo's fight on Twitter - @flosfight - and on Facebook.

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