A cancer-stricken child who was once given 24 hours to live is now a normal, healthy boy.

Blue Tobin, eight, of Elvington, rang the all-clear bell when he returned to the Royal Marsden Hospital last Thursday, the fifth anniversary of his pioneering treatment.

He needed a potentially fatal double dose of chemotherapy, when he was three, for him to be able to have the life-saving bone marrow transplant in 2012.

And a month later it was feared he only had 24 hours left when he fell gravely ill with infections.

His mother, Francesca Waite, 51, said: “He is a beacon of hope for all children with cancer.

“I hope this can give other children with cancer and their families hope.

“Blue now wants to grow up to be a singer and be better than Bruno Mars.”

Blue, who now attends St John’s Primary School in Canterbury, was diagnosed with a particularly aggressive form of acute myeloid leukaemia in March 2011, two days after his second birthday.

The first signs had been nosebleeds and excessive bruising.

The standard chemotherapy didn’t work so a desperate Mrs Waite made a drastic decision.

She gave the go-ahead for doctors at the specialist South London Hospital to try two treatments usually only used on adults.

Blue was given the potent chemotherapy cocktail of Cyclophosphamide and Etoposide , which had a high risk of killing him if it didn’t work.

There was only a 15% chance of it working.

But that was the only way to lead him to the life-saving bone marrow transplant, which happened May 10, 2012. The final clinic for that was next day.

There was one terrifying time, in June 2012, that Blue worsened was given 24 hours to live when he contracted infections.

The cancer treatment had severely weakened his immune system.

He had to be transferred to an intensive care unit at St George’s Hospital, Tooting.

But he pulled through 10 days later and was returned to the Marsden.

Overall Blue stayed the Royal Marsden, from November 2011 until February 2013.

He he was at the Padua children's ward at the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford for the following five months.

Blue and his mother previously lived Canterbury from 2009 to 2011, then Ashford and then Elvington from July 2014.

He has a sister, Kizzy Waite, aged 22.

Ms Waite, a single mum, works as a finance operations manager at Marks and Spencer in Canterbury.

Her employers kept her post when she was off for two years caring for Blue.

Blue has a second passion after music, football, and is a keen Chelsea supporter.