A KIND-HEARTED girl recovering from a rare brain tumour has sent a Christmas thank-you to some special friends.

Eight-year-old Naomi Savage wanted to thank all those who raised £31,000 for her Fight for Life Fund, set up in 2007 to finance research into brain tumours.

The youngster, from Romanby, near Northallerton, hopes the fund will help other children.

“I want to thank all the people who raised money for my fund and who help children who are still sick in hospital,” she said.

“I’m quite proud of my mum and my dad for raising more than £30,000.”

Naomi was diagnosed with the aggressive brain tumour ependymoma at the age of four.

Only 20 cases are reported nationally each year and her parents, Lucy and Mark, were crushed to learn it was not treatable with Naomi’s stem cells, which they paid £1,000 to save after her birth.

She was given a 35 per cent chance of survival but, after three brain operations and 28 rounds of intensive chemotherapy, she was told she was free of cancer.