Here is the heart-warming moment three-year-old Albie Waite rang the bell to declare himself cancer-free.
The toddler, from Fairford, was given a prognosis of six-to-12 months to live after a tumour was found in his collarbone, but he has defied the odds to beat the disease.
After staying at many hospitals throughout his treatment and diagnosis, the young boy was able to declare his victory in December last year at Bristol Children's Hospital - a moment that was captured on film.
Albie's parents, Leanne Waite, 31, and her husband, Chris, 32, a builder, first noticed something was wrong in April 2021 when they were dressing their son and noticed his left arm was in severe pain when it got caught in a t-shirt.
After going to Great Western Hospital A&E, Swindon, Wiltshire, they were initially told by medical staff he could have been a broken collarbone or a pulled elbow.
But they were back one week later after discovering a lump. The tot was transferred to Bristol Children's Hospital where medics suspected a callus bump - a hard skin mass.
After a biopsy, the family’s worst fears were confirmed, when Albie was diagnosed with a rhabdoid tumour and given a prognosis of just six to 12 months.
To treat it, he had surgery to remove some of the tumour - which left him with a scar that stretches across his neck. He also underwent chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
In December 2021, his parents received the news he was cancer-free - a day they thought they'd never see.
Now the family has urged other parents to follow their instincts when they know something is wrong.
Mum-of-four, Leanne from Fairford, Gloucestershire, said: “I cannot even explain the shock of finding out Albie had cancer.
“We thought he had a poorly arm and were given a cancer diagnosis. It went from an injury to a prognosis."
“It was so difficult but somehow, we pulled through as a family. He was so tired all the time and had no energy to do anything.
It took six weeks for the parents to get a prognosis after several trips to the hospital - by which time the tumour had quadrupled in size.
Amazingly, Leanne managed to breastfeed Albie throughout his whole treatment and was pregnant with her youngest, Addy, one, at the same time.
She only stopped breastfeeding Albie a week before Addy was born.
Leanne added: “I couldn’t have done it without my family’s support."
Leanne’s sister, Megan, 25, and mum, Kelly, 50, looked after her other children - Lilly, 10, and Poppy, eight - whilst the couple travelled all over the country to be with Albie while he underwent treatment.
“Albie went from being a boisterous boy who loved running around to not being able to do a lot," Leanne said.
"He was hooked to a feeding machine three times a day and couldn’t be a normal toddler.”
Albie had trips and stays in Swindon's Great Western Hospital, Wiltshire, Leeds General Hospital, Yorkshire, Bristol Royal Children’s Hospital, the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in London and Gloucestershire Royal Hospital, as he underwent chemotherapy, radiotherapy and physiotherapy.
On 23rd December 2021 - just two days before Christmas - he made a miraculous recovery and rang the bell to declare he was cancer-free at Bristol Children’s Hospital.
Leanne said: “Albie is amazing, he doesn’t have use of his right arm but takes it in his stride. Watching him bounce back to the boisterous child he was before is just amazing.
“Now we don’t take any family time we have together for granted and cherish each moment we have together."
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