Leah Xuereb is finally doing what a lot of little girls do – going to school and dancing ballet – but the six-year-old is still battling her cancer.

“I’m going back to school tomorrow,” she says, sitting on a bed at the Rainbow Ward for her weekly medical check-up.

Leah scrambles to get her pink bag and pulls out the homework she was assigned for the holidays. Although Christmas break will not be over until Tuesday, she begs her mother to return to school every day.

“She just loves being with children her age and has already fallen in love with maths,” her mother Zhana says, flipping through pictures shot over the past year.

In 2012, Leah’s parents had 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, the girl returned to Malta for Christmas.

But bad news was in store for the girl who stole the nation’s heart, when she had to return to Mater Dei Hospital for chemotherapy in January 2013.

Throughout the year, Leah even developed thrombosis but she soldiered on and started gaining some normality.

As 2014 rolled on, Leah stopped her thrombosis medication and her vision improved. Brimming with energy she eventually started ballet and Year 1 classes at the Għajnsielem Primary School.

Last year was a busy one for Leah, who went to Lourdes in May and then to Disneyland in November just before her sixth birthday on a trip funded by the Corinthia hotel.

Dressed up as a snowflake for Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker ballet, on Monday she danced for the first time in front of an audience.

Leah still needs a lot of prayers, and times are still tough

“She is full of joy. Seeing her look so good means the world to us,” Ms Xuereb says, as her husband sits down to catch his breath after chasing Leah around the room.

“Although Leah is still receiving treatment and has not yet been able to go in remission, looking back at the past years we can see progress in her behaviour and that is what keeps us going on. Leah still needs a lot of prayers, and times are still tough. But at least, whenever Jonathan is low I pick him up and when my moral plummets he helps me back up,” she adds.

Mr Xuereb recalls his daughter’s birthday party early in December, when more than 40 friends and family turned up: “She got so many toys that day. And for Christmas she put some aside to give them up for charity.”

Leah is also making plans for the day she grows up. Although initially she says she wants to be a children’s doctor, after giving the question some thought she says she would rather be a chef and a beautician like her parents.

“I will work so fast so I can do both at the same time,” she says giggling.

Meanwhile her parents are not planning so far ahead and are taking it day by day.

“We cannot talk about what will happen or where we’ll be in a few months time because although she is looking her best, she is still receiving treatment.

“So all we can do is wait and enjoy the moment,” her mother adds, expressing her gratitude for the support shown by the Rainbow Ward staff and Puttinu Cares.