A BATTLING youngster will celebrate five years free from leukaemia next week.

Hailey Lamb, 11, who was born with Down's syndrome, is being honoured for her courage with a Cancer Research UK Little Star award.

By her seventh birthday, Hailey, from Seaham, County Durham, had survived leukaemia, a hole in the heart and two bouts of pneumonia.

Her mother, Joan, said: "Hailey is a great little girl. She has coped with more in 11 years than most people do in a lifetime."

Complications arose soon after Hailey was born, when she was diagnosed with a hole in the heart. Aged two, she was back in hospital fighting pneumonia.

A year later, the hole in her heart had closed naturally and her parents Keith and Joan, and elder sister, Jade, thought her health was improving.

Then on January 8, 1998, a month before her fifth birthday, she was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.

Mrs Lamb said: "Hailey woke up one night complaining about a tummy ache and saying that her knee hurt.

"We took her to hospital in Sunderland, and when the x-ray did not reveal a problem, the doctor carried out a blood test.

"It felt surreal. I knew the doctors were telling me that my daughter had cancer, but it felt like they were talking about someone else."

She had a year of intensive chemotherapy, followed by 12 months of less intensive treatment.

As part of her Little Star award, Hailey will receive a certificate signed by boy band Busted, girl band Mis-teeq, singer Brian McFadden and actor Sam Aston, who plays Chesney in Coronation Street.

* Cancer Research UK is holding a fundraising abseil from the Tyne Bridge on January 30. It is open to anyone aged over 16 and costs £5.

To take part, call 0191-281 8288.