'She's a hell of a character': The Hartlepool three year old who is tackling cancer with a smile

But the three-year-old is doing it amazingly well and has won praise from a town charity where “everyone is falling in love with her”.

The little girl from Foggy Furze has just been diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) and defiant Amelia is confident that her chemo treatment is giving her magical powers.

“Amelia is beyond her years,” said her mum Sam Hunter, 24.

Sam described the whirlwind of emotions of having her little girl diagnosed with ALL – at the same time as she is carrying her second child.

"Amelia has a lot of funny and cheeky characteristics. She has one hell of a character.”

“She understands that there is something in her body that is making her poorly. She knows what chemo is and it is giving her magical powers.”

But it’s not been easy for Sam, whose daughter's life has been turned into a series of hospital visits.

"You are like a deer in the headlights. You are signing consent forms for a three-year-old to have surgery.”

Just three months ago, Amelia was a playful little girl who loved mixing with her pals at the Little Treasures Nursery, in Hartlepool.

‘You think it’s the end of your world’

Then Amelia began suffering from unexpected spikes in temperature and complained of pains in her legs and left wrist.

The family’s quick-thinking GP spotted the signs of potential ALL and sent Sam and Amelia straight to Stockton’s University Hospital of North Tees.

"North Tees said they were sending us to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle and we should be prepared to be there for weeks or even a month."

Oncologists confirmed that Amelia had ALL and Sam said: “You hear it and you think it is the end of your world. You think it is a death sentence. It is even harder when it’s a child and there is nothing you can do.”

Amelia had surgery to fit a portable catheter and will spend the next two and a half years having chemotherapy. If it all goes well, she will get to ring the bell to say treatment has ended.

And it’s thanks to quick-thinking medical intervention from her GP that she has the best chance possible. Experts said there’s only a 5% chance of relapsing.

"It’s because she was sent so soon,” said Sam, who works for Poolie Time Exchange, which has given superb support. “The sooner you get treatment the better.”

‘She understands that it makes her poorly, but she knows what chemo is’

Sam takes time to read a book called Timmy Has Leukaemia to her daughter.

"We talk to Amelia about it and say ‘you have got this in your body’ and she understands that it makes her poorly, but she knows what chemo is.”

Sam also praised town charity Miles for Men for stepping in to give the family support as well as presents for Amelia.

"I can’t thank them enough,” said Sam.

Miles for Men founder Micky Day said: “Miles for Men just really want them to know we are here to support. They have also had support from Poolie Time Exchange. Everyone has fallen in love with Amelia."