The parents of local girl Poppy have said: "Thank you so much to all of you, we won't forget your kindness and generosity."
Poppy Bailey from Lavendon, MK, was diagnosed with high risk Neuroblastoma, a rare and aggressive form of cancer, during tests after mum Claire noticed she looked pale and had lost her appetite last year.
“A chest X-ray showed a huge tumour wrapped around Poppy’s heart and pushing against one of her lungs. We were told straight away it was cancer”, says Claire. “Our world came crashing down around us in seconds. We refused to believe it at first, insisting that our little girl who's always been the picture of health couldn't possibly have cancer,” said Claire.
Poppy’s cancer has less than a 40-50% chance of long-term survival and had already spread widely, including to her bones and bone marrow.
Over the last year, Poppy has been on an immunotherapy trial, which has managed to get her cancer down from 33 spots to 3 in late November.
This then meant she could undergo surgery just before Christmas to remove the main tumour from around her heart and lung which was very successful with surgeons removing 99% during the 6 hour operation.
Last year, Poppy's family set up a fundraiser, Princess Poppy's Rainbow Appeal, with the aim of raising £250,000.
The money raised would be used to access potentially life saving treatment options abroad.
on 20th January, it was announced that the target of £250,000 had been achieved, the fundraiser now stands at a huge £263,293.
In a grateful post on Facebook, Poppy's parents, Claire and Ross said they wouldn't be able to forget everybody's kindness and generosity.
The post read: "As Poppy's proud parents we'd love to say a massive THANK YOU to everyone who helped us get to our fundraising target.
"We're still in disbelief that we've done it! When we first decided to begin fundraising last year it felt like a gigantic mountain to climb and we really weren't sure if we'd be able to do it, or how we would raise such a large amount. However with the help of some amazing family and friends (and support from the wonderful charity Solving Kids’ Cancer through Research ) we managed to begin planning some local events and recruited more and more willing volunteers along the way.
"We're so incredibly grateful to everyone in our local community and beyond who've helped us get to this point. This includes everyone who helped organise events, helped out at events, shared our posts and donated.
"Every penny has counted towards this amount and won't be forgotten by us.This money will allow us to travel abroad and access treatment in the US which aims to reduce the chance of this horrible disease coming back and give our beautiful Poppy the best possible fighting chance of beating cancer. She deserves such a bright future.
"Thank you so much to all of you, we won't forget your kindness and generosity."
Many business, local groups and even celebrities have stepped up to help reach the target, last week, volunteers were invited to bucket shake at Alan Carr's MK Theatre show, he also donated two tickets to be raffled off.
Great British Bake Off winner Nadiya Hussain also helped to give the appeal a big push, sharing the appeal on her personal social media accounts.
A local estate agent also pledged to help raise money, vowing to donate £50 from every single successful house sale in 2022 to Poppy’s appeal.
This Saturday, the Princess Poppy's Rainbow Appeal team will be holding a fantastic Fit-a-thon for Poppy as well as a valentine's day bake sale.
You can keep an eye on fundraising events and stay up to date with Poppy on the team's Facebook page.
You can donate to Princess Poppy here.
