A LITTLE girl with an army of supporters at her back has fought back against a rare and devastating cancer to take her first steps towards a normal life.

Beaming from ear to ear, Breya Ward celebrated her fifth birthday last month

In September, she enjoyed her first day of school.

It is a remarkable turnaround for a little girl who has undertaken surgery and chemotherapy in a bid to beat neuroblastoma – a rare and aggressive cancer which took over her stomach.

The disease changed everything, right down to her outlook on life.

Mum Holly Robinson, from Colchester, said: “She was so young when she went through everything.

“When she started school she thought everyone would be similar and went through something like she had.

“As she is getting older she is realising not everyone has lost their hair or has nose tubes.

“She is very strong willed, she knows what she wants and she has a very different perspective on life than other children her age.

“We find she appreciates the little things, when it comes to doing something with her she would rather just go for a walk around the village.

“She is very grown-up in some ways, and she has dealt with it really well.

“She has been through phases where she gets really emotional, letting it all out and misbehaving, but already she is just like everyone else.”

The treatment Breya has undergone in America, funded by adoring supporters, has impacted on her physically as well as mentally.

Although she has been in remission for a year and a half, she is not out of the woods and struggles to sleep every night.

Holly said: “One of the side effects is neuropathy.

“She says it feels like worms are under her skin, it is essentially constant pins and needles and she has that all the time. She doesn’t sleep well at all.

“The chemotherapy causes nerves to die and sometimes they recover, but if they haven’t recovered in the first year, they never do.

“The statistics are in the first two years of remission there is a 60 per cent chance of relapse.

“We are still a year and a half into remission.

“We try not to think ahead to that and just enjoy life.”

Parents Holly and Ollie Ward, who serves with the Parachute Regiment, are enjoying a first tentative return to normality since their brave girl’s diagnosis in 2017.

Her illness has even impacted on Holly’s career choice.

She now works to support people who have been through trauma at Colchester health centre Mind, Body and Soul.

She said: “At the start I was learning about this for Breya.

“But as a parent of a child going through something like this you start to look at life and realise you don’t want to waste eight hours a day, I need something I am passionate about.

“You want to make a difference - so many charities have come into our lives and we see the benefits of it.

“Breya saw the massive benefits of play therapy.”

Holly and Ollie have received a wave of help, with supporters raising tens of thousands of pounds to support vital treatment and scans not available on the NHS.

Although Breya’s fight is not over, the embattled family has been bestowed with a refreshing outlook on life which can only arrive via a stark confrontation with human mortality.

There is even time for Holly to consider some of the other generous offers she has received.

Holly said: “Right now, life is good and we live in the moment.

“It might be even better than before as we appreciate it so much more.

“We received so many offers, so many little things we couldn’t even really contemplate at all when Breya was ill.

“A dance theatre offered Breya a lifetime of free dancing classes. She has been offered free physiotherapy - all the little things like that make such a difference.”