THE FUTURE'S BRIGHT FOR OUR MIRACLE GIRL

Anthea Smith, 47, has high hopes for her daughter in 2024 after beating a deadly disease

- LOUISE BATY

As I cradled my baby in front of the twinkling tree, reflections of the fairy lights sparkled and danced in her wide eyes. I'd always loved this time of year but my very first Christmas as a new mum felt extra special. It was December 2017 and Apollonia - Apple for short - had arrived months earlier, on 7 September. My husband Uriah and I were in a newborn bubble that Christmas and, over the next couple of years, as Apple began to understand the excitement of the holiday season, we enjoyed making family traditions. We'd hang decorations, bake gingerbread, giggle at pantomimes, hunt for icicles on frosty days and scatter reindeer food' with our neighbours children on Christmas Eve.

In February 2020, our second daughter, Tallulah - 'Lula' - arrived to join the fun. Apple was thrilled to have a sister, but then Apple found joy in everything, whether at nursery or playing in the park. Only, as the next summer came round, when she was three, she wasn't her cheery self.

'My tummy hurts,' she announced, in June 2021, rubbing her abdomen and pushing away her food. At first, our GP prescribed antibiotics for a urine infection but weeks passed and she was still unwell. She then said that her right leg hurt. A hospital scan, on 9 August 2021, brought terrifying news.

There are growths on Apple's abdomen,' an oncologist explained, at Bristol Children's Hospital.

*Cancer?" I asked, voice trembling, and the doctor nodded. Further tests revealed it was 'high-risk', Stage 4 neuroblastoma. There was a huge tumour in her abdomen, stretching from her diaphragm to her pelvis and the cancer had spread to her blood and bones, with 'hotspots' all over her body. Clutching Uriah's hand I asked the one question no parents should have to face.

GRUELLING TREATMENT