Fighter Ruddi has first play session after cancer therapy

Diagnosed with the disease at just seven months old, he has been robbed of many of the simple pleasures most children take for granted.

Forced to undergo debilitating bouts of chemotherapy that attacked his immune system, Ruddi, now 18 months old, was unable to play with other children for fear he could contract a potentially deadly virus.

So it was a small but symbolic event this week when he was taken to a play centre for the first time after returning from pioneering treatment in the USA.

Ruddi, who lives with his parents in Longwood, Huddersfield, giggled as he made the most of his first outing to the nearby Fizzy Lizard play gym.

His mother Ali, 38, said: "There were times when we thought we might never be able to do this, so it's a big thing."

Ruddi had been perfectly healthy before he started to experience problems going to the toilet when he was seven months old. His GP treated him for constipation, teething problems and even asthma before his worried mother decided to take him to hospital.

He was eventually diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma, a cancer of the soft tissue.

Only 60 children a year are found to have the disease in Britain. Ruddi had to have his bladder and prostate removed because of a tumour growing on his prostate.

Despite a successful operation, doubts remained about the risk of the disease returning.

In December Ruddi became the first British baby to be sent to the USA for advanced proton therapy treatment, which involves firing a beam of protons at tumours so they receive a very high dose of radiation without damaging surrounding tissue.

Ruddi is now in remission, but there remains a risk of the cancer returning.

He will have to have chest X-rays every month to monitor his progress and it will be five years before he can be given the all-clear. "We've been told that, as the months go by, the risk of it returning will decrease," his mum said.

She said she was looking forward to the future and to watching Ruddi learning to do things other healthy children do naturally.

She said: "I want him to have the best in life – from the best pair of socks to the best everything."