Girl in need of lung transplant gifted VIP Taylor Swift tickets

By Ottilie Von Henning via SWNS

A little girl in need of a lung transplant was gifted tickets Taylor Swift's Eras Tour on its 100th show.

Florence Ava Bark, seven, is currently battling graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) of the lungs after receiving a bone marrow transplant in August 2022.

Florence has always loved music and dancing but because of her illness these experiences were never available to her.

Two days before Taylor Swift's final show in Liverpool, Sean Reddington, CEO of Thrive, was giving away two VIP tickets for "someone who truly deserves them."

A fan of Florence's social media got in contact with Sean and nominated her for the tickets.

Sean and his team were moved by Florence's story and decided to gift her the tickets.

Mom Stacey Bark, 34, said: "They were so great. Sean said there were quite a few tears in the office hearing Florence's story.

"They even made extra special arrangements for Florence as the tickets weren't originally wheelchair accessible but they called the stadium and made sure they were able to look after her.

"Sean's PA rang me at 4pm on Friday during the school run, a day before the show, to confirm it had been sorted.

"That's when I rushed home to tell Florence."

Stacey, her husband Andrew, 36, and their oldest child Freddie, 10, all made the trip to Liverpool.

Stacey attended the concert with Florence and despite concerns about how she'd fare, Florence absolutely loved it.

Stacey, who's now Florence's full time carer along with her husband, said: "Florence has spent the majority of the last two and half years in hospital.

"Even before she got sick, the year she was meant to start school the pandemic started so she has never been in a crowd that big before.

"To see her have this experience meant everything and the staff were just so wonderful, kind and attentive.

"Florence called it a 'once in a lifetime' experience."

Florence first fell ill in late April 2022 and was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in May.

Stacey, from Corby, Northamptonshire, said: "She was diagnosed within 24 hours of her blood test coming back.

"Florence started chemo the next day because she was diagnosed as a high risk patient."

It quickly became apparent that the chemotherapy wasn't working and Florence's parents were told she needed a bone marrow transplant

Stacey said: "Just over a month later, on June 17, we were told she would need a bone marrow transplant.

"We were told there was a high chance of the transplant not working before the surgery, but we didn't have any other real option at the time.

"She had the transplant on August 18, 2022, after which there was still some cancer remaining.

"The bigger issue then became her immune system, which had to be suppressed so the transplant would be accepted into the body."

Florence was declared cancer-free in October 2022 but a month later was diagnosed with graft-versus-host disorder (GvHD) of the lungs.

GvHD occurs when transplanted donor cells recognize the recipient's tissues as foreign and attack them.

Stacey said: "Her lungs work at 30% capacity on a good day but she now needs a lung transplant.

"She gets a lot of infections in her lungs which have to be cleared out ahead of any transplant.

"Florence was on a ventilator for eight days this past January as a result of complications with the infections in her lungs."

Florence is now undergoing tests to check her health ahead of a potential lung transplant.

Her parents have set up the foundation Bemorefab after her initials to help with donations both for Florence and for other children battling GvHD.

Stacey said: "We wouldn't have gotten this far without the support of our community in Corby and the kindness of strangers willing to donate."