PARENTS of a little girl battling a brain tumour have ticked off tying the knot in front of family from their bucket-list for 2019.

Kirsty and Paul O’Donovan renewed their vows on Saturday to give six-year-old Lyla a chance to feel like a princess as a bridesmaid and to “make memories”.

The family, of Ushaw Moor, had the ceremony at Durham City’s Register Office where Lyla stood up to deliver a speech which had the mum-and-dad-of-six on the brink of tears.

Mr O’Donovan, 34, said: “We don’t know what Lyla’s future holds and we wanted to make as many memories as possible.

"This is the biggest thing we wanted to do with her - to have her as our bridesmaid. It has been about making her feel special.”

The Northern Echo:

Lyla was diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2016 and has since had eight operations, most recently in December.

Doctors are currently monitoring the youngster, who goes to Bearpark Primary School, to see if she needs a risky, major operation to prevent the scar tissue from previous operations from tearing her brain stem.

In the meantime, Mrs O’Donovan, 32, and Mr O’Donovan, a lance corporal in the British Army, have come up with and are making their way through a bucket list of things they want to do this year.

The Northern Echo:

Also on this list are nominating Lyla for a Pride of Britain award and going to Disneyland - somewhere they went previously with Make-a-Wish Foundation but were unable to make the most of as Lyla fell ill.

The married couple originally wed in 2004 at Gretna Green in a very small gathering. This time they were able to enjoy saying their vows all over again with Lyla and surrounded by her siblings Reece, 13, Olivia, 12, Lilley, ten, Harry, seven, and 11-month-old Henry.