Miss Miracle

And even at her young age she has the awesome responsibility of acting as the ears for her parents Steve and Tracy, who are profoundly deaf.

But she is only alive today because of the skill of staff at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford who removed a very rare form of cancerous tumour.

Bethany, from Moredon, was born in January 1999 and at 12-weeks-old she began to suffer convulsions and clench herself up into a ball as if she was in pain.

Her parents Tracy, 32, and Steve, 38 , took her to Swindon's Princess Margaret Hospital where tests revealed a lump on the left-hand side of her abdomen.

She was referred to the John Radcliffe Hospital, where the tumour was successfully removed.

Tracy said: "Nobody thought it was cancer until after it had been removed and it became clear it was a tumour."

Surgeons removed a three-inch tumour from her stomach after she was diagnosed with an extremely rare form of the disease called Neuroblastoma.

"It was three inches in diameter and was pressing on her other organs which was causing the pain.

"The surgeons told us it must have been growing since she was in my womb.

"They said it was so rare, they were as stunned as we were that she had cancer."

Bethany amazed her doctors with her rapid recovery despite enduring major surgery at such a young age.

After the operation she was able to return home to her parents within three days, with no need for her to be placed in the intensive care unit.

Since her surgery, subsequent scans have shown that she has beaten the cancer, one of the 100,000 people who are successfully treated for cancer each year thanks to research carried out by groups such as the Cancer Research Campaign.

Bethany can hear and speak and she is already able to communicate with her deaf parents using sign language.

Steve and Tracy both became deaf in childhood after having measles.

Steve, who works as a production engineer, said: "When there is someone at the door or calling on the telephone, she will let us know. She acts as our ears.

"She is full of life and always cheerful. I am really thankful for the work of the hospital staff who have looked after and saved her life."

Steve and Tracy treasure the time they spend at home with their daughter every day.

"She is more important to us now than anything else in the world," said Tracy.

"I just would like everyone to know that cancer can be beaten and I hope that anyone who hears Bethany's story who finds their own lives touched by the disease will take heart from it."

Getting behind charity's campaign

BETHANY'S parents are so overjoyed by her recovery that they want to share her story to give hope to other parents who face being told their child has cancer.

And they are keen to support The Cancer Research Cam-paign's Children's Cancers Month.

They were at The Cancer Research Campaign shop in Swindon yesterday to launch the month of high-profile fundraising activities.

Bethany presented shop manager Sophie Bint with a certificate to mark successful sales performance over the past 12 months. Her mum Tracy said: "We are here today to support The Cancer Research Campaign in its work for children like Bethany. It is truly important."

Claudia McVie, regional director of The Cancer Research Campaign in the South West and Wales, said: "It certainly is working."

Just 25 years ago, for example, all children with leukaemia died. Today more than 80 per cent survive.

"Stories like Bethany's warm the heart and there could be no better success story for us to share as we launch our Children's Cancers Month.

"December means Christmas and Christmas means children, so please help us this month. Your money will save many more young lives." The Cancer Research Campaign can be contacted on 0800 226237.

Diagnosis early on is essential

Neuroblastoma is a cancer of a group of cells that are related to part of the nervous system, called the sympathetic nerves.

Tumours can develop anywhere where there is tissue of the sympathetic nervous system, which includes the back of the abdomen where Bethany's appeared.

If the tumour has not spread, it can be cured in most cases by surgery. If it has spread, for example to the bones, it will be treated by chemotherapy and usually responds well.

In general, the younger the child's age at diagnosis, the better their chance of survival. About half of all neuroblastomas will be diagnosed in the first year of life.

Cancer is the umbrella term for over 200 different diseases which have many different causes and symptoms. This is why the work of the cancer research campaign to pinpoint specific cures is so difficult.

Cancer starts when a genetic error occurs in just one of the body's billions of cells. That cell begins to multiply out of control, eventually forming a tumour.

In time cancer cells can also spread to other parts of the body, making the disease more difficult to treat. That is why early detection is crucial.

Cancer is a disease which tends to affect older people, with almost 70 per cent of cancers occurring in the over 65 age group. But recently there has been a rise in some types of cancer affecting the younger generation, such as skin and testicular cancer. In Britain four in ten people are likely to develop cancer at some stage in their life.