IT'S heartbreaking to read of the brave fight of young Abbey Fenton.
Abbey was just days away from her fourth birthday when she could battle no longer against the cruel condition that had affected her for so long.
The youngster's mum, Julie Stayner, said Abbey's death has quite simply broken her heart in two.
The anguish is brought home starkly to us by the family pictures shared by Julie today.
No-one could fail to be moved by the shots of the cheerful little girl who obviously brought such joy into the lives of her family and friends.
Her passing was symbolised at her funeral by the release of a single white dove by her sister, Taya.
For Julie and Taya, it was a way of saying goodbye to Abbey.
Such a loss must be incomprehensible to most of us.
Julie described Abbey as "brave, bubbly, happy and chatty".
Abbey's cheerful personality in the face of such adversity does shine out from the family snaps shared by her mum.
Julie tells how, as the youngster was out in the street in her pushchair, she would say a happy "hiya!" to all she would meet.
It puts the cruel nature of the disease that claimed Abbey's life all the more in focus.
Julie is keen to pay tribute to the hospital medics who did all they could to save Abbey's life from the rare cancer she was suffering.
Now it is over to the scientists and researchers to pick up the baton and redouble their efforts to find a cure for this most undiscriminating of conditions.
Their success, should it eventually come, will be a fitting tribute to Abbey.
