Leah’s relatives sustained by prayer as girl recovers

Every day Antonia Xuereb opens the drawers where her granddaughter Leah keeps her clothes and toys and sends her blessings to the three-year-old who is recovering from major surgery in the US. “I cannot wait until my little angel returns home. I used to pray that the treatment would go well, and now I pray to see her soon,” the 65-year-old said. On Monday Leah underwent a 12-hour operation in Texas to remove a very rare form of stomach cancer after an excruciating 16 months of diagnosis and treatment at Great Ormond Hospital in London. Yesterday she was watching cartoons and talking away to her parents, Zhana and Jonathan Xuereb who, exhausted but immensely relieved, have remained at her bedside. The operation went better than they expected and Leah is showing “good signs of recovery”. “I just know she’s going to be OK,” her mother said. “On Tuesday she was helped down from the bed onto a chair, and considering what she’s been through that was a really huge step.” She added that on Sunday they were “very fearful” about how things might turn out. She could not even think up a simple prayer. But her friends and family sent her comforting personalised prayers which she could just...