SHE has endured a year that has included being diagnosed with a rare and life-threatening form of cancer, receiving a major operation and undergoing a gruelling course of chemotherapy and medication.

But now, as seven-year-old Iona McMurdo nears the end of her medication and makes steps towards a full recovery, the year is to end on a high with a trip to Lapland to visit the home of Santa Claus.

She is to fly out with a group of 16 youngsters from the Lothians on Friday to enjoy a chartered day trip to Finnish Lapland, funded by the Fight Against Cancer in Edinburgh (Face) charity.

Iona was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, which affects only a dozen children in Scotland every year. She needed to have two tumours removed, one in her kidneys and one in her head.

The brave youngster then went through a course of chemotherapy over many months and lost all of her hair as a result. Mum Lynn McMurdo says the trip to Lapland will be the perfect reward for all she has had to endure in the past 12 months.

Mrs McMurdo, 33, who lives with her husband Paul and three-year-old son Eoin, as well as Iona, at their family home in Tranent, said: "She is so excited about this trip. She's seen it on TV and it looks great.

Despite the dramatic change to her appearance caused by the chemotherapy, including the loss of her hair, she has continued to attend Tranent Primary School as often as possible.

And Mrs McMurdo says that the staff helped reduce any feelings of awkwardness that Iona might have experienced at school by explaining to the other children exactly what she was going through. "The staff at the school were great and made it a lot easier," said Mrs McMurdo, who is a classroom assistant at St David's High School in Dalkeith.

"Generally, the classes have been great and the kids have just treated her normally. We did have the odd problem, like comments about her not having any hair, but it was nothing major and she never really let it get her down."

Iona has also been attending the Royal Hospital for Sick Children and her mum says that the treatment she has received from staff has helped ease the strain of her experiences.

Iona is now taking a course of tablets, which she will continue to take for six months, but after that it is hoped she should be nearing the end of the long road to good health. When her course of medicine does end, her family have promised another treat - for her to be taken to the United States to swim with dolphins.

John Macaulay, 54, of Currie, a trustee and one of the main organisers of Face, said: "Many of the kids that have gone in the past have had the time of their lives - it is a fantastic day.

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