Amelia-Grace Cooper has featured in this newspaper a number of times, though not in the happiest of circumstances.

In January last year, the eight-year-old was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer.

She underwent a major operation and several bouts of chemotherapy but her family was told this year that the disease had returned.

Last Thursday, despite Amelia-Grace’s battle to the last, it claimed her life.

Her story is one that will tug at the heartstrings of every parent and grandparent.

One of the last things she did was to attend an awards night in London organised by Cancer Research, where she was the guest of honour. Mum Chantel has had calls from all over the world and is fully expecting hundreds of people to attend her funeral next week. Meanwhile, a fund which was set up to help the little girl enjoy as many experiences as possible before she died is now to be converted into a charity which will enable other youngsters with serious illnesses to benefit in the same way, a wonderful legacy.

We will tell you more about the Amelia-Grace Rainbow Fund in the coming weeks.

In our age of cheap celebrity and an obsession with sports stars as heroes, the words brave and inspirational have become overused and debased.

But Amelia-Grace deserves that description one hundred times over.

An amazing little girl.