As excited children across the country woke up on Christmas morning, little Jess Vardy slipped into unconsciousness.

Her parents Dawn and Dan were told the devastating news their five-year-old daughter had a rare and aggressive cancer.

“You never think your child will have cancer.

"Cancer just didn’t come into the equation.

“Suddenly you have to treasure the precious memories as a family because you don’t know how many more you’ll have.”

Remarkably though Jess has amazed doctors and she is now in remission.

“Jess is our walking miracle. We were told doctors would do everything they could but the chances of her surviving were very slim, just 10/15 per cent. Initially they said there was little hope of her lasting more than a year.

“To hear the scans are clear, is just amazing.

“They have given us back our daughter.”

It was the day before Jess’ fifth birthday in 2012 when she complained her hand hurt.

The youngster, who loved gymnastics, swimming and ballet, had a fever as well as the pain in her hand.

Jess went to the GP and the family had several diagnoses including juvenile arthritis. The Swanmore Primary School pupil was due to see a specialist in March 2013.

But the pain got so bad the family had to rush her to Southampton General Hospital on December 21.

Doctors discovered a hard lump under Jess’ left arm and she was transferred to Piam Brown ward.

An MRI scan on Christmas Eve revealed she had a tumour the size of an orange under her arm.

Though discharged with medication so she could spend Christmas at home, Jess’ health deteriorated.

“The pain got so bad that she was slipping in and out of consciousness. Jess had to be rushed back to hospital and put on morphine. Doctors did a biopsy of the lump and it was diagnosed as a rhabdoid tumour.”

A rhabdoid tumour is a rare, highly aggressive malignancy of early childhood, and is primarily found on the kidney.

Around 2,400 children and teenagers are diagnosed with cancer every year in the UK. That’s around six every day. But only two children a year are diagnosed with a rhabdoid tumour.

Dawn, 36, explains: “Her prognosis was looking poor. As this tumour usually affects the kidney, doctors expected the tumour under her arm was a secondary site. Jess was given full body scans and I think everyone was surprised when we found out it was actually the primary site. Her prognosis immediately got better, but we knew that we still had a long way to go.”

Jess began year-long treatment on the highest toxic form of chemotherapy on January 19 last year undergoing a week in hospital every three weeks to reduce the size of the tumour at Piam Brown ward in Southampton and Royal Hampshire County Hospital.

Her immune system failed to work so she picked up every illness imaginable.

But still Jess fought on.

Dawn, a former social worker who is training to be a teacher, says: “Those weeks Jess was well enough, she went back to school.

“These were the times that she looked forward to as she could be with her friends and she got back a sense of normality for a while.”

The tumour responded well and shrunk considerably.

Last June the family from Bishop’s Waltham were sent to Stanmore Hospital in London to have the tumour removed.

The family feared medics would be forced to remove Jess’ entire arm to ensure they got rid of the tumour – but they were lucky.

Though Jess lost some of the function in her arm, she worked hard with the physiotherapist to get movement back again.

She then had to undergo yet more treatment – this time radiotherapy every day for six weeks to target the area where the tumour was.

After the radiotherapy, Jess had to go back on chemotherapy until November.

“She’s such a bubbly character who has never stopped smiling. She has been so brave and has had a dogged determination to fight.”

The battle paid off. This year Jess has been told she is in remission.

“We have to come back every three months for scans and X rays, and this will be done for the next five years. The older she gets, the better the prognosis is that the cancer won’t come back.

Daily Echo:

“I look at her body and see all the scars and her now deformed hand and it’s unbelievable what she’s been through. To see her smiling and doing the things she used to love doing like swimming though, and now learning to ride a bike, is such a joy as a parent.”

Today Dawn and Dan are grateful to the teams and people who have given them their daughter back.

They now want to do something – to raise awareness of childhood cancer and money for those who are vital in helping families through it.

So far, with the support of the community, they have raised £6,000 for Southampton Hospitals Charity.

Teachers from Bitterne Park School where Dan works ran the Great South Run and the local postman cycled the three peaks.

Their own fundraisers included Tough Mudder, Race for Life, a football tournament and a charity ball.

Dawn, adds: “We feel like we have been in an extremely privileged position which has made us stronger as a family as a result and now we want to help others.”

To support the family go to justgiving.com/Dawn-Vardy1