Suffolk girl Georgia Cracknell, 8, from near Bury St Edmunds, beats Hogkin lymphoma after care at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, in Cambridge, and West Suffolk Hospital

A ‘brave’ eight-year-old girl who was diagnosed with stage four cancer this year is now completely free of the disease following treatment.

Rebecca Cutter, 35, from Badwell Ash, near Bury St Edmunds, spoke of the shock of her daughter Georgia Cracknell’s diagnosis of Hodgkin lymphoma, which is a cancer of the system of thin tubes and lymph nodes that run throughout the body.

Georgia, a pupil at Norton CEVC Primary School, began getting high temperatures and suffering with tiredness around October last year, Rebecca explained.

They went to see the doctor, who was concerned about her falling asleep in school, and she was sent for blood tests, which led to Georgia being sent to Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge around mid December as there was a concern she could have leukaemia.

There, she underwent a bone marrow biopsy and was in hospital for 10 days, but as medics couldn't initially find anything – and other results were not yet back – she was discharged, said Rebecca, who works in Bury Sewing and Knitting in St John’s Street, Bury.

“She was getting fevers every day, but that had stopped for four or five days so they sent her home thinking it could be glandular fever and to have a follow-up January time,” said Rebecca, who also has a son called Charlie, aged 10.

“But over Christmas she started getting fevers again so we took her back to hospital at West Suffolk and they sent her back to Addenbrooke’s.”

There, Georgia had a CT scan and, with other results also now back, she was diagnosed with stage four Hodgkin lymphoma on January 5.

Rebecca said the cancer was in her liver, spleen, bone marrow, lymph nodes and chest.

She said: “I kind of knew there was something wrong. It was kind of a relief in a way to get that diagnosis because she was so poorly.”

Georgia had two rounds of chemotherapy and then in March a scan revealed no signs of cancer. “I was just in complete shock to be honest with you,” said her mum. “I almost didn’t believe it. I was like ‘are you sure?’ but obviously really, really happy.”

She said Georgia, who still has a central line in, was ‘so positive and so resilient’.

“She was only upset about doing chemo; she couldn’t have runny eggs or pink steak,” she said. “She has just kept everyone else strong in a way.

“But we have always been straight with her about the facts. She knows what it is and what happens and that kind of thing. She’s just been so brave, so amazing.

“Even when she was starting to lose her hair, we decided to shave it off as there were straggly bits here and there and we said ‘let’s cut it off now’.

“She was nervous, but after that wasn’t bothered. I crochet so I made her lots of different hats, which she loves and everyone admires.”

Georgia donated her hair to the Little Princess Trust, which supplied her with a wig, and raised £1,500 for the charity.

Rebecca also mentioned the boutique Pocket Watch & Petticoats, which is in St John’s Street where she works, as they gave Georgia a bag, dress and petticoat.

“It was really, really kind,” she added.

The mum also spoke of the ‘amazing’ support from Georgia’s school, Norton Primary, which recently held a dance-a-thon for three cancer charities due to the cancer diagnoses of Georgia and a fellow pupil Evie Carey, and other families touched by the disease.

Georgia, who fortunately wasn’t too poorly with treatment, has managed to maintain going to school.

She still goes on bike rides, but the central line does restrict how active she can be. Georgia’s hobbies also include drawing and reading.

Looking back at the last nine months, Rebecca, whose partner is Craig Cracknell, 35, said: “You never think a temperature or stuff like that would lead to your child having cancer. It’s like ‘what?’

“She has always been really, really healthy and really, really active. I had noticed the change in the beginning. She would just sit there and not want to do anything. She was really lethargic, but that was because her blood count was so low.”

She said she ‘definitely’ used her mother’s instinct when Georgia had been sent home just before Christmas to get her back to the doctor and then West Suffolk Hospital.

Rebecca spoke of the relief of the clear scan in March and, while Georgia will be undergoing check-ups, she said ‘the worry doesn’t go away’.

“I think I can worry about normal things now, almost. I think there’s always going to be a part of me that’s worried when she gets poorly. I think that’s just natural.”