Young cancer fighter Leah Xuereb has been taken out of intensive care in a Texas Hospital and is showing improvement, her father Jonathan said today.

The three-year-old Gozitan, who underwent a 12-hour operation to remove a very rare form of stomach cancer almost three weeks ago, last week suffered high fever and an infection and was described as being in 'unbearable' pain.

Happily she has now recovered and her parents were heartened yesterday as their brave daughter took some 20 steps, walking better than she did last week. She also watched television. 

She is still tired, lethargic and in some pain, her father said. But doctors are expected to allow her to eat normally later today.

All tests carried out so far have yielded positive results, meaning the family is on track to return home for Christmas.

Leah  has spent half her life at hospital away from home.

She underwent the €245,000 operation sponsored by the Maltese Government at the Anderson Cancer Centre in Texas after 16 months of diagnosis and treatment at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London.