The moment Hartlepool's brave little Noah Griffiths met his nursery friends for the first time since he began brain tumour fight

And it was extra special because the two-year-old had not seen his chums since he was diagnosed with a rare tumour on his brain around five months ago.

He played with his pals, showed them his bike and had great fun. His mum Abbieleigh Griffiths, dad Jamie Greenhow and little sister Ivy were also there.

But the day got even better for Noah and his family – because the Little Stars Day Nursery in Kilmarnock Road, Hartlepool handed over £1030 which it raised to help send him to Disneyland.

Noah has a grade 3 glioma which is a type of tumour which can happen in the brain and spinal cord.

It is so close to his brain that it can’t be operated on, and although he is receiving excellent treatment from North East doctors, no-one knows yet whether Noah will go blind.

His friends and family launched a fundraising battle to get him to Disneyland in Paris.

Noah’s mum Abbieleigh, 18, said she was ‘incredibly grateful’ for the effort the nursery had gone to in order to help her little boy.

She added: “It is amazing that Noah was not in nursery for long before he got poorly but they are still helping.”

The double boost came at a great time as Noah recently had to stay in hospital four times.

Noah had come through chicken pox, an allergic reaction with chemotherapy, and a dislodged port all in recent weeks.

Abbieleigh added: “This was the first time he has seen everyone since his diagnosis. His sister Ivy loved meeting everyone too as she will be starting there in January.”

Nursery manager Claire Wainwright said the money was raised through a day of sponsored fancy dress at Halloween. She added: “The parents of the children did really well as we are only a small nursery and to raise that amount of money was fantastic.

"Noah is one of our children and when he got his diagnosis, we were missing him.”

Noah and his family’s life was changed forever in the summer when Noah had a seizure and was rushed to hospital for tests including MRI scans.

The tests for the seizure also showed up a totally unrelated tumour which was on Noah’s brain.

Noah has to have chemotherapy for 45 weeks and has also lost a lot of hair but never gives up and never stops being cheerful, said Abbieleigh.

But Noah is no stranger to fighting and being brave. He has fought with health problems ever since he was born early. He came into the world at 30 weeks.

He was poorly when he was first born and only went home at seven weeks.

More disruption came when his baby sister Ivy was born. She also arrived early – at 27 weeks – and Noah had to spend four months with mum and dad in hospital while Ivy received treatment for a life-threatening infection in her bowel.

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