Little Maddie was just 19 months old when she was diagnosed with a brain tumour.

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Just three months after taking her first steps, Maddie suddenly seemed to lose confidence in walking. Things soon got worse when she was unable to sit without toppling backwards.

Her parents, Susan and Oliver, felt sick when a GP told them that it looked like there was something wrong with Maddie's brain.

After numerous tests, the devastating news came that their beautiful baby girl had a brain tumour, and she needed urgent surgery or she might not make it through the night.

"It was 7.30 in the evening when my husband and I made our way to the operating theatre at the Royal Children's Hospital. We shook the hand of pediatric neurosurgeon Dr Walker, and handed over our baby girl, not knowing whether we would see her again," said Susan.

After a harrowing night of waiting, Susan and Oliver were told the surgery went well, but that Maddie still wasn't out of the woods.

Maddie was wheeled to the Intensive Care Unit for recovery, tubes connected to every part of her body. Early the next evening Maddie was removed from her ventilator, and the next day she opened her eyes.

Maddie is now a happy, healthy five year old. She does have a small amount of the tumour left in her brain, as it wasn't able to be removed. However it isn't malignant, and isn't causing her any damage.

Maddie has regular scans at the Royal Children's Hospital to ensure the residual tumour isn't growing.