Friends raise £31,000 for her Fight for Life charity.

A KIND-HEARTED girl recovering from a rare brain tumour today sends a Christmas thank-you to some special friends.

Eight-year-old Naomi Savage spoke to The Northern Echo to thank all those who raised £31,000 for her Fight for Life Fund, set up in 2007 to finance research into brain tumours.

The youngster, from Romanby, near Northallerton, North Yorkshire, hopes the fund will help other children.

“I want to thank all the people who raised money for my fund and who help children who are still sick in hospital,”

she said.

“I’m quite proud of my mum and my dad for raising over £30,000.”

Naomi was diagnosed with the aggressive brain tumour, ependymoma, at the age of four.

Only 20 cases are reported nationally each year and her parents, Lucy and Mark, were crushed to learn it was not treatable with Naomi’s stem cells, which they paid £1,000 to save after her birth.

She was given a 35 per cent chance of survival, but after three brain operations and 28 rounds of intensive chemotherapy, she was told she was free of cancer.

With the risk of the disease returning at its highest between two and five years after treatment ends, she is at a critical time in her recovery.

She has scans every four months and will not be given a final all-clear until 2018.

Her parents started fundraising for research into brain tumours while she was in hospital, and created the Fight for Life Fund.

Mrs Savage said: “This fund has allowed us to have happy memories of what was a nightmare, a time full of awful things.

“Whatever happens, I will have memories of people’s incredible niceness and support.

Very happily I save all these cards for Naomi and tell her what crazy things people did for her fund.”

Since Naomi’s treatment ended, the family has been making up for lost time, visiting Center Parcs, Lapland and EuroDisney.

She also attends dance classes, sings in the choir at Romanby Primary School, recently achieved a yellow belt in tae kwon do, and loves playing with her four-year-old sister, Amy.

“Naomi’s brilliant,” said her mother. “She’s in a main- By Nicola Fenwick nicola.fenwick@nne.co.uk stream school and doing all her subjects. She’s doing great. She’s happy and looking forward to Christmas.”

To support Naomi’s Fight for Life Fund, donations should be sent to PO Box 202, Northallerton, DL7 7DF.

Cheques should be made payable to Fight for Life Fund.

For more information, visit naomisfightforlifefund.org.uk