BRAVE Bacup schoolgirl Deanna Radcliffe has returned from a magical trip of a lifetime thanks to the kind hearted people of Rossendale.

Deanna, six, of Regent Street, who has been in remission for a year, after being diagnosed with an inoperable tumour behind her right eye in April 2001, returned from Disney Land, Florida, this week.

She underwent a course of chemotherapy and an intensive course of radiotherapy, and is now going for chest X-rays every two months at the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, Pendlebury.

Kindhearted people in Rossendale raised £11,500 to send Deanna and her mum and dad, Liz and Paul, older sister Danielle, ten, and her best friend her toy Labrador, Emily, on the three-week holiday of a lifetime.

Meeting her favourite character Winnie the Pooh and swimming with dolphins were just some of the highlights of the trip.

The Britannia Primary School pupil was overwhelmed by the characters and managed to fill an autograph book full of all-star signatures.

Deanna said: "I liked the dolphins. There was a baby one, it was really cute. My favourite part was having breakfast with Winnie and getting his signature."

He mum, Liz added: "We were overwhelmed by it all. There were no sad faces there everybody was always happy and smiling which we really appreciated.

"We had already started to save up ourselves to go to Florida because we wanted to experience it with Deanna.

"If we had have done it ourselves we wouldn't have been able to do half the things we did. We tried to do everything and not miss anything out.

"We have got so many good memories, we will never forget this trip."

Liz said she would like to thank everybody for their help and kindness throughout Deanna's illness.

She added: "I can't believe that in today's society people can be so kind and generous. You hear so many bad stories about people today but the people of Rossendale have overwhelmed us with their kindness.

"The money that we have left from the trip has gone into a special account for Deanna because we never know what will happen in the future. I would like to thank everybody for making the trip possible. It was wonderful, just seeing the joy on Deanna's face was amazing."