Thousands back cancer girl's birthday record bid
Family photoHundreds of bikers are expected to escort thousands of greetings cards to a girl with cancer who wanted to break a world record on her eighth birthday.
Amelia Kolpa, from Rowley Regis in the Black Country has neuroblastoma and has been in and out of hospital since the age of two-and-a-half.
She hoped to claim the record by collecting 8,000 cards but, thanks to the support of bikers around the country, she will get many times that number.
Matt Lem, also known as Lemmy, is a member of the Hells Angels motorcycle club who said he got the ball rolling as Amelia's appeal "struck a massive chord" with him.
He said he heard about lot of appeals through social media but this one was special to him.
"It was so nice for a seven-year-old to not want luxury gifts, not want luxury holidays, Disneyland or anything like that, she just wanted cards for her family to break this record," Lem added.
He started collecting cards at his restaurant, Lockside Steakhouse in Stourbridge, and soon found he was receiving hundreds each day.
"My postman deserves a pay rise," he joked.
Lem also spread the word to other members of the bike club in the UK and across the world and said it was "really humbling that people are listening to a tattooed biker who is dyslexic".
Huge cards total
Matt Sen, from the Rebellious Motorcycle Club in Bridgnorth, Shropshire, was one of his supporters and said "it's heartwarming when people get together".
Lem said he only pushed a ball which was "already rolling", but Sen said: "I don't think he's giving himself enough credit".
More than 40,000 cards have now been collected at the steakhouse alone, with tens of thousands more due to be delivered.
Lem said he had put out the word to bikers around the country to help deliver them on Thursday evening and expected about 800 to turn up, along with a lorry for the cards.
Amelia's birthday is on 3 March so collections will continue after this week's delivery.
The steakhouse is one place to deliver the cards, along with the following locations:
- Highfield Primary School, Beeches Road, Rowley Regis, B65 0DA
- Leasowes High School, Kent Road, Halesowen, B62 8PJ
- Artisan Espresso Bar Ltd, 168 Halesowen Street, Blackheath, Rowley Regis, B65 0ES
- Fairfield Inn, Fairfield Road, Hurst Green, Halesowen, B62 9JA
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