A BRAVE six-year-old girl diagnosed with leukaemia more than a year ago has received an award after penning a diary about her battle with the illness.

Angela and Alan Balharrie kept a photo journal after their daughter Eilish was diagnosed with leukaemia last October.

Eilish was just five when she first went into hospital and her inspiring journal, entitled My Leukaemia Story, has been highlighted by a Cancer Research UK Little Star award, a joint venture between the charity and TK Maxx, to recognise the bravery of children diagnosed with cancer.

Mum-of-three Angela, from Broxburn, on the outskirts of Dunbar, said: “We took photographs from quite early on. In these days with iPhones and technology, my husband was taking quite a few photographs.

“At first, I was thinking it was quite strange but then we thought it was quite good for Eilish to be able to look back and see how far she has come.

“It feels like you are living in a bubble and you cannot quite believe what is happening.” Earlier this year, Angela and Eilish started transforming the notes and photographs taken into a personal journal, detailing what had happened over the past number of months.

Eilish says: “Every time I have something done to make me better, I get a special glass bead. Mummy says when I’m a grown up, they’ll be a reminder of all the things I went through to get well.

“I’ve collected over 500 beads for 60 sleepovers in hospital, five emergency hospital admissions, 14 blood transfusions, one platelet infusion, five bone marrow aspirates, 15 lumbar punctures, 15 general anaesthetics, more than 100 lots of chemotherapy, six weeks of steroids, loads of antibiotics, over 100 jags, over 50 days of being neutropenia, four nasogastric tubes passed, 11 X-rays/scans and for all my hair falling out twice. No wonder I feel tired!” It was just over a year ago that Eilish first had to go to hospital.

Angela, a former staff nurse and mum to Hamish, 11, and Lachlan, 8, said: “She just started P1 last August and she was just really, really tired when she started school.

“Just before the half-term week, she just did not want to go to the park with her friends and she just looked quite pale and quite yellowy. I put it down to a virus but thought I better take her to the doctor.” After being told to go to Edinburgh’s Sick Kids, Eilish was given blood tests, which showed she was suffering from anaemia. Within 48 hours, Eilish was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL) and began chemotherapy. Her mum described it as a “horrible shock”.

The Dunbar Primary School pupil is still a regular visitor to the hospital and will continue to undergo chemotherapy for another 18 months.

Angela, 43, said her daughter’s health was improving, although she had been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.

Eilish’s journal adds: “Now that the nasty cells have been blasted, I don’t need to go to hospital so much, though I still have checks to make sure the leukaemia isn’t hiding.

“To celebrate the end of my intensive treatment, mummy and daddy took me to Build-A-Bear and I chose Pebbles, a rollerskating pug doggie with a pink tutu. She loves to run about and play just like me.”