AT just three years old, Bethany Robinson has shouldered more responsibility than most adults ever have to.
Not only has the little fighter beaten cancer, she also acts as the ears for her parents Tracy and Steve who have been deaf since birth.
Despite the incredible challenges she has overcome, the Moredon youngster remains a cheerful, confident little girl.
It is little wonder then that such a beacon of hope has been chosen as an ambassador for the Cancer Research UK charity.
Just yesterday she handed over £655 raised by her friends at Brightstar Pre-School who took part in a sponsored rides on tricycles, bikes and scooters.
And she has been singled out by Swindon major Stan Pajak as a winner in the young person category of the council's Good Citizen Award.
The issue of childhood cancers has been bought to the fore in recent weeks, with the sad news that three-year-old Abby Smith lost her battle against cancer last Wednesday after a brave fight.
The youngster from Abbey Meads had been diagnosed with a brain tumour just after Christmas after having balance problems.
And the parents of another cancer sufferer Charlie Jarvis, four, have been left speechless by the flood of support by people in the town who have responded to their appeal for £60,000 to pay for treatment to prolong their daughter's life.
Paul and Samantha Jarvis, from Greenmeadow, appealed for help in the Evening Advertiser after being told by doctors that there was nothing more they could do to save their Charlie.
Children's Cancer
Children's cancers are thankfully rare.
Only one in every 600 children under 15 years of age develops the disease.
Forms of cancer in children tend to differ greatly from those affecting adults.
Oncologists say the differing forms of cancer look different under the microscope and respond differently to treatment.
Cure rates for children are much higher than for most adult cancers and over 60 per cent of all children can now be completely cured.
The exact cause of cancer is still unclear but in general cancer occurs when cells in the body become out of control and multiply.
They stop working properly and as their numbers increase they form a lump or tumour.
When cancer cells break away and spread to other parts of the body they may produce secondary tumours known as metastases.
Cancers are not infectious and most forms of cancer are not inherited.
It is exceptionally rare for a second child in a family to develop cancer.
The total number of children developing cancer has changed little in the last 40 years and the prospects for many have improved dramatically with advances in treatment.
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