Brave little Leah wants a white bike for Christmas

Although still a bit tired and does not yet feel like playing, Leah Xuereb had told her mother she wants a white bike for Christmas. The little girl who has touched the hearts of all Maltese and Gozitans is finally out of intensive care after having major cancer surgery in the US. On Monday the three-year-old Gozitan girl was fighting fever and an infection. But yesterday her parents were overjoyed when her body temperature went down and her doctors said they were pleased with test results. “Everything is on the right track. Her fever is down, her face is flushed, she is walking again and she may start eating again today,” her excited father Jonathan Xuereb told The Times. On November 12, Leah had a last-resort operation in a specialised hospital in Texas to remove a very rare form of stomach cancer, after previous treatment in London failed. Although her surgeons were confident they had removed the entire tumour, last week her body temperature started fluctuating and the little girl was in “unbearable pain”. The pain persisted despite painkillers and the doctors had to remove some bacteria from her abdomen, her father said. She spent the next five days sleeping, after her parents...