Fife youngster Georgia Hillman has played a starring role at a special party to salute the courage of children who have to live with cancer.
The Dunfermline four-year-old was a guest of honour at the Little Star awards party, organised by Cancer Research UK and TK Maxx, at ZSL London Zoo at the weekend.
Georgia, who was just one when she was diagnosed with cancer in August 2008, was one of 21 children from across the UK who were invited as ambassadors to represent the 390 children who received a Little Star award during the last year.
At the party she mingled with celebrities including singer Lemar, Blue Peter’s Konnie Huq and Zoe Salmon, stars of The Only Way Is Essex and former EastEnders favourite Heather Trott, AKA actress Cheryl Fergison.
She also danced with X Factor finalists Same Difference and petted Liam and Ru, two of the zoo’s meerkats, and Honey the kinkajou.
Her father Ben, an accountant, said: ”Georgia had such a fantastic day being treated like the little star that she is.
”She particularly enjoyed dancing with Same Difference and was just mesmerised by the magicians.
”It was absolutely brilliant.”
The party was organised by Cancer Research UK with TK Maxx to help raise awareness of the charity’s groundbreaking work in the field of childhood cancer research.
Cancer Research UK has helped to transform the outlook for children with cancer today almost three-quarters are cured, compared with around a quarter in the 1960s.Keyhole surgeryThroughout the UK 1,550 youngsters are diagnosed with cancer each year.
Around 120 children are given the diagnosis in Scotland every year and, sadly, in 2008 that included Georgia.
The family received the devastating news that Georgia had Wilms’ tumour the most common form of kidney cancer in children only two days after her first birthday.
Her cancer was discovered after mum Ruth, a professional photographer, noticed something was wrong when she was blowing raspberries on Georgia’s stomach.
Ruth took Georgia to see the family GP, who referred her to a paediatrician at the Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy.
The following day, after many tests, Georgia was transferred to Edinburgh’s Royal Hospital for Sick Children, where it was confirmed that she was suffering from Wilms’ tumour.
She had to undergo six weeks of chemotherapy to shrink her tumour from the size of a football to that of a satsuma. That was followed by keyhole surgery to remove the tumour and then a further six months of chemotherapy.
Georgia has now been in remission for nearly three years.
Ben nominated his daughter for a Little Star award as a Christmas surprise for the family.
Georgia went on to receive a star-shaped trophy for the bravery she had shown throughout her treatment.Fundraising successJo Murphy, head of corporate social responsibility at TK Maxx, said the store’s partnership with the charity was committed to beating children’s cancers and the awards are a way of recognising the courage of those children who have faced a diagnosis of cancer and the support they receive from family and friends.
”Thousands more people are alive today thanks to Cancer Research UK’s work on children’s cancer,” she said.
Since 2004 TK Maxx has raised more than £13 million, with £9 million going directly to help beat children’s cancer.
The Little Star awards acknowledge the challenges faced by youngsters who encounter cancer and raises vital funds for research.
For more information or to make a donation go online or text STAR58 £5 to 70070 to donate £5 from your phone bill.
Text donations are free from any network and 100% of the donation will go to Cancer Research UK.