Ten-year-old Sophie Foxley and her family have more to celebrate and be thankful for this Christmas than most.

The Shropshire youngster, who has battled with leukaemia for nearly three years, has finally had her last chemotherapy session at Birmingham Children’s Hospital.

But today mum Jane Foxley said they were not out of the woods yet as Sophie will have to have blood tests until she is 12 years old.

And she still has to cope with other health problems caused by the chemotherapy. 

Mrs Foxley, 40, of Bicton Heath, said the hospital took a piece of bone marrow from Sophie on Wednesday to make sure the leukaemia had gone.

She said: “That’s what they expect. We are still waiting for the phone call though but no news is good news.

“That means that at this present moment in time, she will be clear of leukaemia. There is an 80 per cent chance she will be okay now but it’s more likely to be six months down the line.

“All the chemo will have killed off all the leukaemia but if anything is lurking, it will grow again but hopefully Sophie has had enough.”

She added: “She could not have had any more chemo – she had the top one. Now they will give her a blood test every month.”

But Mrs Foxley said the muscles in Sophie’s feet and legs had been damaged by the chemotherapy treatment.

“Hopefully they will improve over time. Everybody says are you going to be celebrating but I’m still a bit wary. It is good she has stopped the chemo but we still have things to sort out,” she said. 

Mrs Foxley continued: “I think if after six months’ time things are good and there’s no problems with the blood tests, then I will be a lot happier. We are happy, but just taking the next step.”

Mrs Foxley said that it had been a difficult time for the family with Sophie ill, but it had made them stronger.

“In the beginning, it was an absolute nightmare,” she added. 

“We did not know what was happening and what to expect.

“All the attention was on Sophie but I still had other children and that was really hard. It was fortunate they were a little bit older as they understood. 

“But we have got through it and that’s the main thing. I think we are a lot stronger family now.”

By Rebecca Lawrence