By Lesley Richards

TWO young cancer victims who are pupils at the same school are on the road to complete recovery.

And to prove it Laura Millar and Emma Rudd took part in a motorway march on Sunday - to say thanks to everyone who has played a part in their treatment.

Both pupils at St Mary's RC High School, Astley, Laura (right), 15, was diagnosed with non Hodgkins lymphoma last September, and Emma, 13, with bone cancer in December.

But now that they are feeling better they wanted to help raise funds to help more people facing the disease.

Together with their families they joined 2000 people in the Macmillan M60 March which took place on the soon-to-be opened Middleton to Denton stretch of the M60.

Laura's illness was discovered after she was kicked in the stomach by her two-years-old baby sister, Ellie, on a Devon holiday last year.

Her mum, Mrs Geraldine Jones, of Rushton Avenue, Leigh, said Laura had been off colour for a while. After returning from holiday she was taken to Wigan Infirmary with suspected appendicitis but a stomach tumour was discovered.

She underwent an emergency operation and was transferred to Pendlebury where she was on a ventilator in intensive care for five days.

Geraldine said: "At first they thought it was ovarian cancer and I signed for an hysterectomy, but it was not needed thank goodness. Now she is absolutely fine, you'd never think she had been ill. She is a tall girl and became like a walking skeleton, but now she has put weight back, her hair has grown long and she is absolutely fine.

"Macmillan and the physiotherapist, Jan Davies, were brilliant, so her stepfather Brian, sister Louise, 19, and I all joined the walk with Laura to help pay them back. We hope to have raised in the region of £500."

One setback for Laura, who went back to school part-time after Easter, is that she was studying for nine GCSEs, but has now plumped to take five.

Emma, of Taunton Avenue, who was diagnosed with bone cancer in her knee just a week before Christmas is lucky that her surgeons managed to save her leg.

But she has now learned to walk again with replacement titanium parts.

She had been complaining of soreness for a time, but it was put down to growing pains.

Later X-rays at Leigh Infirmary revealed a tumour.

She was transferred to Wigan then Pendlebury for chemotherapy and the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital in Birmingham where the joint and bones were rebuilt.

Her mum, Carol, said: "We are really proud of her. She has had to learn to walk again. It's great to see her back to normal. Her life has been upside down. She has been very sick with the chemotherapy, but she has done so well.

"It was an awful time, but you learn to cope. It's not an experience you would wish on anybody else. The Macmillan nurses and the people at Pendlebury and Birmingham were brilliant. They gave us lots of support - and so did school."

Emma, who is in the third year, completed the walk with her mum and dad, Garry, sister Lindsey, 12, and brother Thomas, seven.

Both girls were invited to join the event by physiotherapist Jan, who works with children affected by cancer at Pendelbury.

And they had nothing but praise for her.

Laura said: "Jan helped me a lot. She made exercises fun so I didn't get bored. And the fact that I managed to walk six miles less than a year after I was diagnosed proves that her methods work.

Emma added: "She's brill".

Jan said: "Both girls look so well now. It is good to see them up and about and getting on with everything that they enjoy again. They both worked really hard to get their strength and mobility back and it makes me proud to see them tackling this walk."