A GATHERING of former policemen raised £2,000 for a girl with a genetic condition so rare it does not even have a name.

More than 100 Old Cops’ Club members gathered for their annual fundraiser at Southend Rugby Club in aid of eight-yearold Isabella Defries, both of whose parents are police officers, and who was born with a severe chromosome disorder.

It meant she was born with two holes in her heart, is blind, has severe epilepsy, is fed through a tube in her stomach and has very poor muscle strength.

Having returned from a tenweek physiotherapy programme in the United States, she’s able to sit up for the first time. The cash raised will go towards further therapy at a similar centre in Slovakia.