A RUGBY match held in memory of a three-year-old girl that died of cancer raised more than £7,500.
The match more than 50 players of all ages and abilities, from recent recruits into the seniors to grizzled old veterans, and took place at Salisbury Rugby Club.
Freyja Horbury was diagnosed with cancer just before Christmas 2020, when she was just two years old.
It spread from her liver to her lungs and required immediate treatment at the Piam Brown Children’s oncology ward at Southampton, where she spent many months.
Freya died on July 2, just two months after her third birthday.
Tom Horbury, Freya’s dad, plays for Salisbury RFC, and said he and his family are grateful to everyone who is supporting them.
He says the aim is to help and support children and their families, including bereaved families, who come under the care of the Piam Brown and the Teenagers and Young Adults (TYA) wards at Southampton General Hospital.
He added that Freya was “always loving and full of life”.
Before the game, Tom presented a symbolic cheque for £6,000, and by the time the game had finished that evening, donations had grown to more than £7,500.
Tom said: "When life gets hard and its difficult to put one foot in front of the other, days like that make it possible to find a reason to keep going.
"Thank you so much for the love shown today and for creating such a wonderful memory in support of Freyja and other children the charities will go onto to support with your donations.
"To of had 280 people in attendance is staggering. £7500 is a substantial amount of money that will go to helping others.
"£1000 of that came from a kind donation made by James Burton Construction in Salisbury.
"Special thank you to Richard Lloyd at Salisbury Rugby club, Fergus Farrell at Halbro, Disco Dion and many more."
To donate, go to justgiving.com/crowdfunding/tom-horbury.
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