PIGEON fanciers flocked to Stacksteads for the sale of the century to raise money to send a teenager to America for a life-saving heart and lung operation.

The sale was co-ordinated by Garry McCafferty who writes in the magazines British Homing World and Racing Pigeon.

It was through his articles that pigeon racers from all over the country got to know about the Heart for Jo Appeal for 16-year-old Joanne Harris and offered their birds for sale.

Garry, of Todmorden Road, Sharneyford, turned auctioneer for the day at Rosemount Working Men's Club when more than 150 prized birds came under the hammer.

Many of the birds were champions or bred from champions.

Donations came from Aberdeen, Staffordshire, Cornwall, Glasgow, Shrewsbury, London and all over the North West.

Four clubs use Rosemount as their base, Valley Flying Club, Bacup and District Flying Club, Stacksteads Flying Club and The North West Classic Club, they all helped in the sale. Joanne and her parents Marion and Mike Harris travelled from their home in Shropshire to watch the fund-raiser.

Marion said: "Words cannot express our gratitude to these people for what they are doing to raise money for my daughter.

"The doctors are refusing to treat Joanne because she has Downs Syndrome.

"They cannot give us a clinical reason for not performing the transplant.

"They say she won't be able to take the drugs properly after the organs are transplanted but I know she would be able to do so.

"They say she has no immune system but that will be to her advantage because it means her body is less likely to reject the foreign organs.

"I have been to America where I met a surgeon who agreed to perform the operation and now we are raising the £250,000 needed to pay for the transplant. So far we have raised more than £40,000."

Garry was in the auctioneer's chair for six hours and the sale raised £5,000.

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