BRAVE little Freya Murphy, who has spent most of this year fighting cancer, will go on a dream trip to Lapland next month.

But she has already received the best Christmas present ever — a scan taken earlier this month shows the cancer has gone.

The six-year-old was diagnosed with the condition in January, after a tumour was found just before Christmas, and underwent six months of chemotherapy at the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital and six weeks of radiotherapy at The Christie Hospital.

Her family, who live in Radcliffe Road, Darcy Lever, then had an agonising three month wait to see if it had worked. During that time they enjoyed a holiday of a lifetime to Florida, including a visit to Disney World, after fundraisers read about Freya in The Bolton News and rallied round to raise cash to help pay for the trip.

Freya’s parents, Keren and Alan Murphy, have now had the news they were hoping for thanks to the recent scan.

However, the Blackshaw Primary School pupil will still be closely monitored, with regular check ups, for years to come.

Freya, who is sister to two-year-old Esme, will be rewarded for her bravery when she travels to Lapland to meet Father Christmas in December with the Wish Upon A Star charity. She was nominated for the trip by a nurse at the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital.

The six-year-old will also visit Disneyland Paris in two weeks, after the Christian Lewis Trust children’s cancer charity, which helped arrange the Florida holiday, organised a weekend away.

Mrs Murphy, aged 36, said: “The Florida holiday was fabulous. It allowed us to have fun together again, and Freya and Esme never stopped smiling, and it let us almost forget the traumatic months following diagnosis.

“We will never be able to thank all of the wonderful people who were touched enough by Freya’s plight to help make her smile in a way I never thought would be possible again. Freya had her routine scan earlier this month and we got the news we were praying for. It’s fantastic news.

“The weekend in Disneyland Paris and daytrip to Lapland will be a fantastic build up to what we hope will be the best Christmas ever.”

A scan in August showed some abnormalities, which doctors thought was scar tissue, but her family had to wait until this month to see if she was given the all clear.

Mrs Murphy added: “Freya is now back at school full time and we try to pick up our lives with this constant worry surrounding us.

“Nobody can give us any guarantees about the future so we just have to remain positive and enjoy each day.”

cherry.thomas@theboltonnews.co.uk