All-clear for leukaemia twin

The girls have been at school throughout their treatment

Identical twin girls who were diagnosed with leukaemia at the same time are well on the road to recovery.

After two years of painful treatment, six-year-old Katie Young, from Brecon, Powys, has finally been given the all-clear.

It is hoped that her sister, Chelsea, should also be told she has recovered at the end of this month.

It is the second major step for the youngsters, whose daily treatment at one point led to both of them losing their hair and wearing wigs.

In September last year, the pair began school after more than a year of treatment for the disease.

It is extremely rare for twin siblings to have the disease at the same time - the odds against it happening are nine million to one.

Everything is turning round - life is getting better every day Sheena Young

Their mother Sheena, who had feared that she could lose both her daughters, is delighted at their progress.

"Katie was given the all-clear about eight weeks ago," she said.

"Chelsea hopefully will have the all-clear on 30 September.

She added that the girls had coped "really well" with the illness.

"We did not know what to expect so we went with the flow," she said.

"They accepted everything they had to have, the injections and the treatment. They both lost their hair.

"Everything is turning round - life is getting better every day."

Chemotherapy

Their treatment began after the girls fell ill within weeks of one another in the summer of 2001.

Katie was the first to start treatment after a nurse at the family's GP surgery noticed she was very pale and sent her for tests in May 2001.

The sisters have faced lots of disruption to their nursery schooling as they had to have so much treatment - initially it took place every other day.

The chemotherapy was then reduced to once a month.

If the illness was to return in the next 12 months, the girls would have to have a bone marrow transplant.