HANNAH Maxwell-Jones, whose facial disfigurement prompted an appeal by The Northern Echo, is back on her feet after major surgery.

The two-year-old, from Nunthorpe, Middlesbrough, travelled with her parents and grandmother to the Arkansas Children's Hospital, in Little Rock, for treatment by specialist surgeon Professor Milton Waner.

On Tuesday, she had a gruelling three-hour operation to correct her haemangioma. Her grandfather Tom Leen said that for the first time yesterday, Hannah had recovered sufficiently to run around the ward.

"She's really picked up," he said. "After the operation, she went into a recovery ward but now she's back in the ordinary ward. She's running around laughing and giggling, and Professor Waner is very satisfied with the operation.

"She's very bruised and swollen, but he says that will go down."

Hannah's operation, which readers of The Northern Echo helped pay for by donating £55,000, is expected to be the first in a series over the coming years.

Mr Leen said Prof Waner is already talking about the next one. "He wants her back in three months' time," he said.