AN EBBW Vale little girl is enjoying life after bravely fighting a brain tumour the size of a tangerine.

Six-year-old Jessica Cox underwent an operation to remove the tumour at the back of her head last year.

The Willowtown Primary School pupil had been suffering severe headaches so parents Mandy and Mark took her to a local opticians in September last year who found swelling behind her eyes.

She was taken to Nevill Hall Hospital in Abergavenny and within a week doctors at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff were operating on her.

Mrs Cox said the tumour was one millimetre away from the part of the brain which controls the nervous system.

She said: "The doctors said that if we had left it another month or so we wouldn't have her with us now."

Fortunately doctors were able to scrape all of the tumour away without causing any damage to her nervous system.

Jessica was in hospital for a month recovering but went back to school full time in November.

Mrs Cox said they are very proud of their daughter and said she hopes Jessica will now be able to get back into some of the activities she used to do before she was ill such as swimming.

A recent scan Jessica the all clear but she will continue to have check ups and scans every six months.

Jessica was one of ten children to be taken on a trip to London on St David's Day which was organised by the children's cancer charity LATCH.

Arranged by trustee Tony Curtis MBE, the visit saw the children and their parents set off from Cardiff early on Tuesday taking 5,000 daffodils with them.

They were accompanied by Cardiff City player Michael Chopra, two Welsh Guards, two Queen's Dragoon Guards and one Royal Welsh soldier for the whole day.

The children had lunch at the Houses of Parliament with the House of Commons Speaker and presented him with a large bunch of daffodils, Welsh cakes and a Welsh Love Spoon.

They also visited the Wales Office where they met Secretary of State for Wales Cheryl Gillan and presented her with a stainless steel Welsh dragon.

The party then marched along Downing Street to take the Prime Minister a basket of daffodils.

The children had their photographs taken inside the cabinet office where the Prime Minister said a quick hello.

Mr Curtis said: "The children go through some very difficult periods and it's a break out of the hospitals for the families. It's a way of allowing them to forget the treatment and to have a great day."