Girl, 6, makes amazing recovery after doctors amputate her arm to treat it for bone cancer - then successfully REATTACH it

• Bethan Evans had Ewing's sarcoma - a rare bone and tissue cancer
• Surgeons at Royal Orthopaedic Hospital in Birmingham removed her arm
• It was driven three miles to Queen Elizabeth Hospital, also in Birmingham
• There the tumour was treated with radiotherapy and then removed
• The arm was then taken back to the Royal Orthopaedic and sewn back on
• Bethan is now cancer-free but will need regular scans until she is 18

Bethan Evans (pictured with her mother, Lynne) had Ewing's sarcoma - a rare chilldhood cancer of the bones and tissue - which caused a large tumour to grow in her left arm

A six-year-old girl has made a remarkable recovery after surgeons cut off her arm to remove a cancerous tumour - before successfully sewing it back on.

Incredibly, after Bethan Evans’ left arm was ‘temporarily’ amputated it was driven three miles to another hospital where specialists treated the golf ball-sized tumour with high-doses of radiation.

A team of 10 medics then sewed her arm - which had been cut off at the shoulder - back on again at the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital in Birmingham.

Bethan, from Welshpool, in Powys, underwent the eight-hour procedure on July 5 last year, six months after she was struck down with Ewing's sarcoma - a rare bone and tissue cancer.

Since the operation she has undergone months of physiotherapy to strengthen her arm and she is now looking forward to returning to school next month.

Her mother, Lynne, 37, a teacher, said: ‘She had a virus before Christmas, she never was a poorly child before cancer.

‘She came out in a rash and I couldn’t control her temperature so I took her to the doctors who told me it was a virus, which in his defence it was.

‘She couldn’t shake it and had about six weeks off poorly and stayed on the sofa.

‘Then a lump appeared in the middle of her left arm and I knew it wasn’t a break or anything like that because she hadn’t been doing anything.

‘I said to my husband it was cancer and he said I was talking nonsense.

‘When we were told it was cancer we held it together until we got to the car and I just wanted to go home, I was distraught.

‘When the doctors told us the surgeons would remove her arm we were shocked, we couldn’t believe it.

‘As a parent you want to protect your children but we were being told the only way to remove the cancer was to amputate her arm, have it driven across a city to another hospital before being driven back and sewn back on.

‘We didn’t want to scare Bethan so we told her that she was having a sleep, which she got used to, and we told her when she woke up her lump, we didn’t say cancer, would have gone.’

She added: ‘We were terrified enough and that is all we told her, after the operation and when she recovered we told her and she said it was great, she said it was cool.

‘She isn’t bothered about showing her scar now, but protects it and doesn’t let people hold her arm, just me or her dad.

‘She wants to be a nurse now when she is older and I hope she can do that.’

Bethan, who was only told about the details of her operation afterwards, said: ‘When mum and dad said the doctors cut my arm off I just thought “that’s cool”.

‘I now think of it as my special arm. I’m really looking forward to skipping with my friends again when I get back to school.

‘I really want to be a nurse when I grow up. It’s cool what they do.’

Bethan was diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma - which affects around 30 children in the UK each year - on January 30 last year, her fifth birthday, after her parents noticed a lump on her arm.

Before her operation Bethan underwent eight weeks of chemotherapy and radiotherapy to shrink the tumour which measured 17cm in diameter.

On the day of the operation, surgeons at the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital in Birmingham removed her arm at the shoulder.

The arm was then packed in ice before being rushed by ambulance to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham which specialises in radiation therapy.

A team of doctors put the arm through intense radiation to kill any existing cancer cells before removing the tumour.

Hours later the arm was then re-packed in ice and sped back across the city where it was re-attached to Bethan.

Her mother said: ‘It was all a blur. My husband and I sat in the ambulance with Bethan’s arm as it was rushed across Birmingham by ambulance.

‘We are just delighted the treatment was successful. Bethan might be cancer free now but she will not get the all clear for another four years.

‘It has been a rollercoaster journey and we couldn’t be prouder of Bethan. She has gone through so much for such a little girl but she has never stopped smiling.’

Bethan has weekly physiotherapy sessions and could have a platinum bone inserted into her upper arm when she turns nine if she struggles to move it.

Mrs Evans added: ‘She has no feeling in the top of her arm, her bones are dead, but the lower arm is fine, you wouldn’t know anything is different, she’s lost about 30 per cent mobility but she can have 85 per cent mobility if she has an operation when she is nine.

‘We still have to do a lot for her, teaching her basic things like getting dressed and eating because I have done it for her for the last 18 months.

‘She’s been to school periodically during her treatment but you’re talking one or two days.

‘I hope she will go full time in September. She can’t wait to play with the other kids.’

Bethan will have routine follow up scans at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and Birmingham Children’s Hospital every three months until she is 18.

Her mother, and father, Arwel, 38, are now raising money for the Kids Cancer Charity in a bid to help other children.

Arwel, an engineer, is preparing for a 220-mile sponsored bike ride from Holyhead to Cardiff next month to raise money for the charity.

He said: ‘I can’t put into words how proud we are of both of our children and the family to be honest, we have all worked as a team.

‘This certainly won’t keep her down, she’s very active, she won’t let it ruin her life, she is very bubbly, she is a bit of a monster, she never does as she is told but that attitude has got her through.’

THE TIMELINE OF EVENTS:

• Bethan was diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma on January 30, 2012.
• She underwent eight weeks of chemotherapy and radiotherapy to shrink the tumour in her arm.
• Six months later, she was admitted to the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital in Birmingham.
• Surgeons removed her arm at the shoulder and packed it in ice.
• It was transported by ambulance to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham.
• Here, the tumour was zapped with high doses of radiation to kill the cancer cells before it was removed from her arm.
• The arm was then returned to the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital where it was reattached.
• Bethan required intensive physiotherapy to regain the movement in her arm.

WHAT IS EWING'S SARCOMA?

• Ewing's sarcoma can occur any time during childhood and young adulthood, and rarely affects older people.
• The tumour can develop anywhere in the body, but is usually found in the long bones of the arms and legs, the pelvis, or the chest. It often spreads to the lungs and other bones.
• There are few symptoms, but the most common is pain, and occasionally swelling, at the site of the tumour. Fever may also develop.
• Treatment involves a combination of chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and surgery.
• The five-year survival for localised disease is 70 per cent to 80 per cent when treated with chemotherapy.

Scroll down for Bethan more photos

Bethan's left arm was temporarily amputated and driven three miles to another hospital where specialists treated the golf ball-sized tumour with high-doses of radiation

Her arm was removed at the shoulder at Birmingham's Royal Orthopaedic Hospital and packed in ice before being taken by ambulance to the city's Queen Elizabeth Hospital

The arm was then returned to the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital where it was reattached. The whole procedure took eight hours and Bethan has since required intensive physiotherapy to regain movement in the arm

Bethan was diagnosed with cancer after suffering from a virus which caused her to develop a fever and rash. Her mother then noticed she had a lump in her arm. Image shows an X-ray of her arm since it was reattached

Bethan (pictured with her mother, Lynne) has now been declared cancer-free but she will have to have regular follow up scans until she is 18

Bethan is hoping to return to school full-time in September. She says that she thinks the fact her arm was removed and reattached is 'cool'

Since her treatment, Bethan (pictured playing with her sister Amy, eight), has decided that she wants to be a nurse when she grows up

By EMMA INNES/ Dailymail