A stabbing victim is set to donate £250 to a four-year-old girl with a rare illness.

Shane Yerrell, 31, of Cullings Court in Waltham Abbey, initially set himself the fundraising challenge of raising £100 for pensioner Stanley Evans, 93, from Soho in Central London, who had been victim to a robbery in the lobby of his tower block, in February.

However, after almost tripling his target the funds were rejected by Mr Evans who had already received hundreds from other sources.

Mr Yerrell said: “Stanley made it clear that he appreciated the gesture but he had already received donations and was just redonating them himself.

“That’s when I discovered the story of Florie’s a four-year-old with Retts Syndrome.

“After speaking with her family I learnt Florie had a limited lifetime and I wanted to help.”

After spending a few weeks looking for the right cause, Mr Yerrell discovered Florie De’Ath online who suffers from rare neurological disorder, Rett Syndrome, which affects the development of the brain.

The four-year-old, who lives with her mum Katie, dad Adam and two brothers in Sawbridgeworth, was diagnosed with the one in 12,000 condition at the age of 21 months after her parents noticed a significant change in her behaviour.

Katie De’Ath, 31, said: “she developed normally up until the age of 16 months and then we began to notice changes.

“Florie just stopped, she lost the use of her hands, her speech and even her ability to eat.

“After another five months, doctors confirmed Florie had Retts Syndrome.

“We started grieving for our little girl, she was still amazing but she was nothing like before the condition kicked in.

“People with Florie’s condition have an estimated life span of 40 years.

“Florie is very severe and we are fully aware that she could be here today and gone tomorrow.

“When we were made aware of Shane’s donation we were totally gobsmacked.

“The £250 will help massively and is going towards funding physiotherapy sessions for her.

“He is a complete stranger and the charity, Retts UK, runs on donations as it is not very well known.

“This one act of kindness makes such a difference.”

You can follow Florie’s story or donate to her cause, here.