IT may have been a cold day in the middle of February, but for two-year-old Abi White the day at the beach could not have been more perfect.

The parents of the happy little girl were packing as much love and fun as they could into the next few days because after that they knew Abi’s time with them would be short.

In fact, three weeks later April and Mark White’s two-year-old daughter Abigail Grace lost her nine-month battle against a rare form of cancer.

They have now spoken of their loss, as well as the amazing support they received from family, friends and people who were strangers less than a year ago.

Mrs White said: “She was always such a happy child.

“She very rarely moaned or grumbled. She was such a special girl.”

Abi was diagnosed in July last year with rhabdomyosarcoma – a form of cancer so rare fewer than 60 children in the UK per year are diagnosed with it.

Then aged just 21 months, doctors realised something was seriously wrong after a tumour became visible on her hip.

She was sent to Birmingham Children’s Hospital to see specialists, who confirmed that they had found a 14-centimetre tumour in her hip, as well as on her lungs and in her bone marrow.

“When they first told us, we didn’t have a clue – we couldn’t even pronounce rhabdomyosarcoma,” said 29-year-old Mrs White, a PA at the University of Worcester.

Mr White, aged 31, said: “We had thought it was going to be a cyst.”

Abi began rounds of chemotherapy in Birmingham, with Mrs White staying with her while Mr White rushed up from his job in Kidderminster to spend evenings together.

Mrs White said: “You never hear about children’s cancer, so we were surprised by how many children there were in the hospital.”

Mr White said: “The ward was packed. We became like a little community.

“It was good to mix with people who are going through the same thing.”

All through her treatment Abi stayed in good spirits: while Mrs White said she was distraught when her daughter’s hair fell out, Abi told her “Now I’ll be like Daddy”.

The toddler, who left “an imprint” on the world, could also still be found rushing around the hospital ward on a pedal bike, even while connected to her drip machine.

In January, her delighted parents, of Camp Hill Avenue, off London Road, were told the tumours had disappeared from her lungs and the one in her hip had shrunk to just six centimetres.

But, just two weeks later, Abi had a fit at home.

She was rushed to Worcestershire Royal Hospital, where it was discovered the cancer had spread to her brain.

“It was four weeks to the day we were told it was terminal that she lived,” said Mrs White. “In the first week after we left hospital was good. The very next day we went to the beach – she loved the beach.”

But then Abi became too ill to leave the house and she died at home on Thursday, March 24, with more than 100 people attending her funeral last Monday.

But, while still distraught at their loss, Mr and Mrs White want to thank all the people who gave them much-needed support.

From Clic Sergeant, the children’s cancer charity, who turned up the first day of Abi’s hospital treatment with £170 to help with the cost of parking and continued to offer support throughout, to the Orchard Service, the nurses who were on call all day, everyday in Abi’s final weeks, as well as their family, friends, workplaces and the hospitals themselves.

And the couple have advice for any other parents whose children are diagnosed with cancer.

Mr White said: “Don’t look it up on the internet.”

“And do not give up hoping,” added Mrs White.