We used to pray every day Florrie wouldn't catch an infection that could kill her... this summer she can play around with her friends

Adorable Florrie Bark’s two biggest wishes are to dance and play hide and seek.

- BY HANNAH BRITT

The nine-year-old captured the nation’s hearts with her infectious giggle and unbreakable spirit when she won Pride of Britain’s Child of Courage Award in 2024.

And now she has had a successful lung transplant, her wishes could be about to come true.

Speaking from the family home in Corby, Northants, she tells us: “I’m really looking forward to dancing again, playing with my cousins and spending more time with my friends.

“I can’t wait to do lots of the things that I wasn’t able to do before.”

Florrie became a star of the Mirror’s awards because of her amazing courage and admirable charitable fundraising, after being diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia in 2022, aged six.

Her mum Stacy, 36, a former healthcare assistant in radiology who looks after Florrie full time, and her dad Andrew, 38, now run her Bemorefab charity, which helps children, families and schools that are affected by cancer.

Florrie, who has a brother Freddie, 12, needed a lung transplant after complications from a bone marrow transplant.

Describing her recovery as textbook, her dad says: “She’s doing so well, hitting all the milestones the doctors hope for.

“For the first time in years we’re actually able to think about the future.

“We used to hold our breath day to day, praying Florrie wouldn’t catch an infection that could kill her. Two years ago, a common cold put her in intensive care on life support.

“While we’re still isolating as she heals, this summer she’ll be able to hang out with her friends, run around, play catch. We can’t quite believe it. We were living on borrowed time, and she’s been given her life back.”

When Great Ormond Street Hospital staff phoned to tell Florrie’s parents a pair of lungs were available in April, the function of her lungs was just 25% and she needed supplementary oxygen to survive.