Little Leah Xuereb is recovering slowly but steadily and has made her first tiny steps after major surgery on Monday.

“She is doing better than expected. It will take time, it’s a day-by-day thing but Leah’s brave and she’ll make it,” her mum, Zhana, who was at the toddler’s bedside yesterday morning, told The Times.

Leah underwent a 12-hour operation in Texas on Monday to remove a very rare form of stomach cancer after an excruciating 16 months of diagnosis and treatment at Great Ormond Hospital in London.

Since then she has been watching cartoons and listening to her parents telling her fairytales.

She was helped down from the bed onto a chair on Tuesday and took her first steps the following day.

“We can’t wait until we go home but she will be spending some more days in intensive care and some four weeks in hospital. It’s a critical time but the big step is done and we’re staying optimistic.

“It’s painful seeing her go through all this. She’s swollen and in pain but she’s tumour-free,” Ms Xuereb added, sounding tired.

Ms Xuereb and her husband, Jonathan, spend 18 hours by Leah’s bedside every day and take it in turns to rest at night.

“We need to take care of ourselves to be strong for her but at the moment we cannot afford to think about taking a break or rest. After all the months of different diagnosis and treatment, this is the last step, so we’re hanging in there” she added.

Leah was healthy until she turned two and, despite the high doses of chemotherapy and stem cell transplant, her disease progressed very quickly.

The €245,000 operation in Texas has been funded by the Maltese Government.