A GIRL is looking forward to her ninth birthday next week after she made a remarkable recovery from a fatal disease.

Tayla Cookson was diagnosed in 1999 with neuroblastoma, a rare form of childhood cancer, but is now free of the disease.

She is preparing for a sleepover with her friends on her birthday next Tuesday.

Her mother, Lorraine, 36, said: "She is perfectly well. She is doing marvellous, she's absolutely great. Everything is looking bright for the future."

After she was diagnosed, Tayla, of Donwell, Washington, Wearside, had to endure a ten-hour operation and bone marrow transplant, followed by chemotherapy.

Her mother said the family became aware of a problem when Tayla changed from being friendly and outgoing to not wanting to eat or play.

She said: "She had a massive tumour on her kidney, and the cancer spread to her bone marrow, chest and jaw.

"The doctors harvested bone marrow from other parts of her body to transplant into her affected parts."