UPDATE:6.35pm

A NEWPORT mother has paid tribute to her “unique” and “special” daughter who has died after a battle with cancer.

Libby Fussell, 12, was diagnosed with a rare brain tumour, which was made up of a combination of two different types of cancer in October last year.

Libby had two operations in November to remove the tumour and had been undergoing intensive radiotherapy and chemotherapy sessions at Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospital for Wales since January.

On her Smile with Libby Facebook page, Libby’s parents, Jason and Sarah, announced that she had died in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Alongside a photo of Libby with her mum and dad, the poignant message read: “Our beautiful angel, Libby passed away peacefully in the early hours of this morning.”

More than 1,000 comments and tributes have been left on the photo, which has been shared 950 times on Facebook.

Libby’s mother, Sarah, told the Argus today: “We’d just like to thank everyone for the huge amount of support we have received.

“We knew Libby was unique and special but it’s lovely to see that everyone else does, too.”

11.21am

AN inspirational Newport girl whose beaming smile shone through while she battled cancer has died.

Libby Fussell, 12, was diagnosed with a rare brain tumour, which was made up of a combination of two different types of cancer, on October 31, 2014.

She had two operations in November to remove the tumour and had been undergoing intensive radiotherapy and chemotherapy sessions at Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospital for Wales since January.

Yesterday, on her Smile With Libby Facebook page, Libby’s parents announced that she had died in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Alongside a photo of Libby with her Mum and Dad, Jason and Sarah, the poignant message read: “Our beautiful angel, Libby passed away peacefully in the early hours of this morning.”

More than a 1,000 comments and tributes have been left on the photo, which has been shared 885 times on Facebook.

One comment read: “God bless you little angel, your smile was always big enough to light up any room, you smile and shine among the stars now, sending love, thoughts and prayers to you all x”

Another tribute read: “Sending you lots of love during this sad time! Libby was one amazing and strong young lady and heaven has gained an angel! RIP beautiful Libby xx”

Another message read: “I'm so sorry to hear this, loosing [sic] someone is never easy, especially not to cancer. My thoughts are with your family. She was a beautiful girl with a beautiful smile. R.I.P, Libby. Fly high with those angels! Xx”

Despite undergoing months of gruelling treatment, charity work was never far from Libby’s mind and she helped to raise money for Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospital as well as LATCH.

As one of the first patients admitted to the phase two of the hospital in Cardiff, Libby played a key role in its official opening in May.

Introduced as a “very brave and generous young lady”, she was the star of a video praising the section of the new hospital and its staff and cut a celebration cake to mark the occasion.

In January, selfless Libby also had her haircut with three friends, Libby Goddard, Tayla Winstone, and Eleanor Kelemen, for the Little Princess Trust.

While Libby selflessly raised money for charity, she wrote a blog called Smile With Libby. As well as also giving an insight into her incredible bravery, in vowing to “kick cancer’s butt”, the blog captured some of the famous visitors who Libby left an impression on.

Among the famous faces that Libby encountered were Baywatch star David Hasselhoff, boxing great Joe Calzaghe, BBC presenter Jason Mohammad and Wales rugby captain Sam Warburton.

Tottenham fan Libby also received an autographed photograph from Gareth Bale after missing out on meeting the Real Madrid star by just half an hour last Christmas.