Six-year-old Leah Xuereb, who won the nation’s hearts, lost her battle with cancer yesterday morning.Six-year-old Leah Xuereb, who won the nation’s hearts, lost her battle with cancer yesterday morning.

Six-year-old Leah Xuereb was lying peacefully in bed, between her parents, when she took her last few breaths in her Għajnsielem home early yesterday morning.

“We were watching her all night. When she exhaled her last breath, she had a smile on her face,” Leah’s mother, Zhana, told The Sunday Times of Malta.

Her father, Jonathan, added: “It’s very hard to lose a child. Today she is in heaven praying for us and everyone else.”

Leah passed away yesterday at 6.30am after a long battle with cancer. The little fighter secured a special place in the nation’s heart when, in 2012, her parents made a plea through this news­paper to fund her life-saving treatment for a rare form of cancer.

Following the €245,000 treatment, funded by the government in a specialised US hospital, she returned to Malta for Christmas. But, in January 2013, she had to return to Mater Dei Hospital for chemotherapy.

Leah soldiered on and eventually started ballet and Year 1 classes at the Għajnsielem Primary School.

Last May, she went to Lourdes and to Disneyland in November, just before her sixth birthday in December. The past couple of weeks were very difficult for the family, as doctors told them to start preparing for the inevitable, Ms Xuereb said.

Life is not measured by the breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away

Two weeks ago, on March 12, Leah received her First Holy Communion and Confirmation. “She had a cake and was happy. We took her bowling. She threw a few balls and was feeling really good,” her mother said, adding it was the last day Leah walked.

Since then, Leah was placed on increasing doses of painkillers and slept most of the time.

During the day her parents placed her on the sofa – on her favourite Hello Kitty pillow – in the living room, surrounded by her favourite things. They played DVDs of her favourite cartoons like Rio, Alvin and the Chipmunks and Peppa Pig.

“Although she was mostly asleep, she could hear us, and she would nod her head,” her mother said.

Six-year-old Leah Xuereb wanted people to be happy around her.Six-year-old Leah Xuereb wanted people to be happy around her.

“I used to tell her lots of stories like her favourite moment when we went to Disneyland. I knew she heard me,” Ms Xuereb added.

“Children are born to live and it’s important to keep fighting... Someone told me these words which give me comfort – Life is not measured by the breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away. We really gave her very good moments. Now we pray to God to give us serenity to accept the things we can’t change.”

The couple thanked everyone for the support shown over these years. Leah’s funeral will be held tomorrow at the Għajnsielem church at 5pm. Anyone who wants to make a donation is asked to support Puttinu Cares.

“Wear white please. Because she wanted people to be happy around her,” her parents said.

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