A NORTH-EAST mother has hailed the courage of her two young children, who were diagnosed with unrelated cancers within three years of each other.

Doctors were stunned when Kellyanne Bell’s daughter, Stephanie, fell ill with leukaemia, two years after her son, Daniel, had been given the all-clear following 12 months of chemotherapy.

Six-year-old Daniel is now in good health, while Stephanie, nine, is battling through her own treatment.

“They don’t feel sorry for themselves, not for one minute,” said Kellyanne, 27.

“They have both coped with it really well. They are so brave.

I do curse our luck sometimes, but asking ‘why me’ doesn’t help them. It is a waste of energy.

All we can do is focus on getting them through this.”

The family’s ordeal began in 2004 when Daniel, then two, began to lose weight rapidly.

“Daniel weighed ten pounds when he was born, but he became really ill and started to lose lots of weight,” said Kellyanne, of Hammond Drive, Darlington.

“I found a lump under his chin and took him to Newcastle General Hospital. They told me he had cancer. It was horrible. Every parent fears getting news like that.”

Daniel was diagnosed with fibromatosis and began 52 weeks of chemotherapy.

Although he has been told there is an 80 per cent chance of a recurrence, he is now fit, well and back at school.

The Bells were just beginning to rebuild their lives when they were given the devastating news about Stephanie, in October 2007.

Kellyanne said: “We had seen that many children with cancer in the hospital when Daniel was ill, so we knew what we were looking for.

“Stephanie had been sick and she was covered in bruises.

I went to hospital and asked for her to be tested for leukaemia. They thought I was nuts but, sadly, I was right.

“It was such a shock because you just don’t think it could happen twice.

“She was always really healthy. She never had colic as a baby. She didn’t even cry when she was teething.”

Stephanie’s chemotherapy is due to end in January, next year. Doctors have been impressed with her progress and believe there is an 80 per cent chance her treatment will be successful.

“She is responding really well,” said Kellyanne. “She had beautiful blonde hair down to her waist, losing that was probably the hardest thing for her.

“But she saw Daniel get really ill, then recover, so she just thinks she will do the same. He is just as brave. They don’t think there is anything unusual about it.

“Stephanie does miss a bit of school, and sometimes she gets really tired, but I try not to treat her any differently.

She still gets told off when she is naughty. She gets treated the same as ever and she acts just the same.

“We act naturally and do not try to go on about it in front of her and she takes it all on the chin.

“Stephanie wants to be a supermodel, a pop star or a princess. She thinks she’s the bee’s knees.

“Daniel is obsessed with dinosaurs.

He is just like any other boy.”

The children’s grandfather, Wayne Dodsworth, said: “Most people will be touched by cancer at some time in their lives, but not like this.

“I was knocked for six, but you have to get on with it.

“The kids never complain.

Some people can feel a bit sorry for themselves, but that does not solve anything at all.”

Mr Dodsworth, a keen pigeon fancier, was so moved by the work of staff at the Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle, that he set about raising almost £10,000 in a pigeon auction, with donations from fellow enthusiasts across the country.

When news of the sale spread among the homing community, the 41-year-old bricklayer, from Park Crescent, Darlington, was inundated with donations.

An auction at Tindale Crescent Workingmen’s Club last month sold 111 pigeons and raised £9,120.

There is no history of childhood cancer in the Bell family, which makes Stephanie and Daniel’s case even more unusual.

Ms Bell said: “It sounds strange, but I have not even asked the doctors about how rare this kind of thing is.

“You can run through it in your mind over and over again, asking why this has happened to us, but it won’t get you anywhere.

“Daniel’s consultant was on call the night we went in with Stephanie. Everyone at the hospital was really shocked.

“But I do not want to know how rare it is, all I want to know is what to do to get them better.”

A hospital spokeswoman said last night: “It is very difficult for families in this position.

“It is unusual, but there are a number of families affected like this where more than one sibling has cancer, and one or two in the North-East who have the same problem.

“The hospital are ecstatic about the donation from Mr Dodsworth – the money will certainly be put to good use.”