CHRISTMAS will be extra special for the McKenna family this year after doctors delivered the news they longed to hear.

Five-year-old Rebecca McKenna was diagnosed with neuroblastoma – a rare and aggressive form of cancer – in January 2018.

Since then, the Erskine schoolgirl has endured exhausting treatment, including surgery, a stem cell transplant, chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

She also made several trips to New York to receive a special vaccine that isn’t available on the NHS in Scotland.

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Now, following Rebecca’s latest scan, doctors have given her the all-clear, leaving parents Chris and Victoria delighted.

The couple managed to raise hundreds of thousands of pounds to cover the medical costs.

Chris, 39, told The Gazette: “Christmas will be extra special for us this year and we can’t wait to enjoy it with our little girl.

“Rebecca was mostly clear of the cancer this time last year but she took not well and we spent a lot of time in hospital.

“Now we will have time with her without any treatment going on and we are going to make sure we enjoy it tremendously.

“Rebecca is just a normal five-year-old girl who goes to school and the Rainbows and she deserves to have a special Christmas.

The Gazette: Five-year-old Rebecca with her parents Chris and Vicky Five-year-old Rebecca with her parents Chris and Vicky

“She’s even got a wee cheeky side to her but she probably got that from me.”

The family are delighted that their trips to America to enable Rebecca to get a vaccine that is believed to help decrease the chance of a relapse have paid dividends.

Chris added: “Everything has been going so well, although Rebecca does have a wee cold just now that she’s trying to shake off.

“It has all been going great and the doctors are all so happy with how she has been doing.

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“We are all feeling so positive right now.”

Rebecca will return to Barsail Primary, in Erskine, after the Christmas break.

“She’s loving life at school and is doing so well,” said Chris. “The teachers are all so impressed with her.

“For her, it has all been normal.”

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