Meet Huw Evans - an extremely brave and courageous local toddler who certainly deserves to be top of Father Christmas’s list of good children to visit on December 24.

2016 has been a traumatic year for two-year-old Huw, his parents Tipper and Sally and five-year-old brother Walter.

Just two months into the year, Huw was taken seriously ill with a brain tumour.

Initially believed to be an ear infection because of the way he was holding his head, hospital tests resulted in the tumour being found with Huw undergoing a seven-hour operation to remove it before enduring seven months of high dose chemotherapy.

Described as a ‘really happy child’ despite all the pain and agony he has gone through in his short life, Huw is a certainly a little fighter. Despite losing his hair as a result of the chemotherapy, Huw is growing and developing like any other toddler, and now at home, is learning to talk and likes nothing more than going to see his dad’s tractor and playing with Walter.

“We want to thank our close friends and family who gave us great support through this year,” said his parents Tipper and Sally.

“It came as a huge shock and is heartbreakingly cruel for such a healthy little lad. He has had a tough journey, but has been so happy and we are lucky that the tumour was caught early. The damage from the tumour is often drastic, but Huw has very little noticeable damage.”

The toddler will have MRI scans every three months for the next five years, and his family will keep praying for it not to reoccur.

“It puts things into perspective and our focus now is on making the most of our two boys Walter and Huw,” continued Tipper and Sally.

“We hope that sharing this will raise awareness of brain tumours (this is the mission of the Brain Tumour Charity), as a speedy diagnosis is crucial to minimising the damage by the tumour and in the fight to beat it.”

Huw was lucky his mum is a research nurse and acted quickly when he developed a subtle head tilt at the beginning of the year.

“The chance of relapse is quite significant, but reduces after the first couple of years, and for this reason we have not done any fundraising because we may need to raise money for treatments overseas,” add Tipper and Sally. “We are delighted to have Huw back home and returning to normal and we intend to make the most of every day.

“We also want to thank all the staff at Withybush, Glangwili and the Heath hospitals for all their fantastic support. Also LATCH and Dreams and Wishes charities, and even more so, all the blood donors out there as Huw did require many transfusions over the course of the chemotherapy.”