Niomi Gillin climbs all over her mum, toddles round the room and hugs her pet boxer-dog Chelsea.

Eight months ago, the two year-old, pictured, had hardly enough energy to move, had lost all her dark hair, was fed through a nasal gastric tube and faced regular doses of chemotherapy.

Her mum, 23-year-old Sara, was at Niomi's side 24 hours a day as she fought her cancer - an anaplastic cell lymphoma, so rare only eight children in Europe have suffered from the disease.

Now she is in remission - the period when doctors feel the disease is regressing.

She still has weekly doses of chemotherapy through the permanent Hickman line attached to her heart, but a much less powerful amount.

By the end of the summer, the medication should have finished and Niomi will be starting a nursery school in Skipton.

"It's amazing to see her now," said Sara, who was living in Keighley when the disease was diagnosed last February. "She is so much improved, her hair has come back, her appetite's returned and she's more active.

"She's just like any other two-year-old.

"I look at her and remember those times when I thought I would lose her.

"It's amazing to have normality back - to be able to go out and walk along the canal and feed the ducks instead of being confined to the house."

Niomi was so ill that for months she had to avoid other people in case she caught any infections.

"I'm still a bit cautious, and if in future I discover a bruise or another lump I will be wondering whether it has come back," said Sara, of Water Street, Skipton.

It was a lump on Niomi's head which refused to go down that prompted Sara to visit the doctor last year.

Tests at St James's Hospital at Leeds revealed it was the rare cancer and the start of months of treatment which saw Niomi and her mum taking regular trips to the hospital for days of treatment.

She lost her hair and the chemotherapy gave her aches and pains in her joints.

Her plight touched the heart of people in Keighley and cash was raised for her and the Candlelighters children's cancer charity.

"Many people have been very generous and we want to thank them," said Sara, who hopes to start a new chapter in her life in September by enrolling on a computer course.

"I'm so grateful to everyone who has helped Niomi - to the staff at St James's and at Airedale General Hospital.

"Every day Niomi is with me is a bonus and very special because there were times when I thought she wouldn't be here.

"She must have regular check-ups until she is an adult, but for now I'm looking forward to when she starts nursery."