IT IS a very special day for Tia Pugh and her family as the three-year-old who underwent a bone marrow transplant no longer has to stay overnight in hospital

Little Tia, from Bath Road, Worcester, and her parents have been moved to a temporary home near Great North Children's Hospital, Newcastle, as she continues to make good progress.

Her parents Nick and Yupa said they were a "very, very happy family" to have Tia out of the hospital where she has been staying for 73 nights.

The three-year-old is thought to be the only person in the world battling two extremely rare immune deficiency diseases simultaneously.

Doctors believed the only hope for Tia was to have a bone marrow transplant but the search for a suitable donor was hampered by her mixed heritage - her father is British while her mother is Thai and Cambodian.

Eventually, an anonymous donor, who is not from the UK, was found and, after a couple of weeks of tests and chemotherapy, the operation went ahead on Tuesday, July 1.

Mr Pugh said: "The house is the next best place to home and Tia really enjoys the freedom of walking around and especially climbing the stairs.

"Today we will have a lot of people to thank and no doubt it will be a emotional one.

"The biggest thank you has to go to the donor for being on the register and saving our little girl's life.

"All the staff on ward three have been fantastic and extremely helpful.

"The BMT team are brilliant in fixing Tia and putting huge smiles on our faces and hopefully the smiles stay.

"Tia still has to take a lot of medication and to take each day carefully with a very strict dos and don'ts.

"To see Tia get through this with hardly any tears or pain has been truly amazing."

In busy areas, Tia has to wear a face mask because of the risk of infection and she still needs medication, blood tests and weekly doctors' visits.

Her parents said the next step would be finding out when they can return to the family home in Worcester but doctors have not yet given them a date.

Mr Pugh added: "All I can say now to many other people is to get on the donors list and register and keep donating blood as this is not only helped Tia but many other people.

"You could save a life one day."

To follow updates from the family, log on to Facebook and search Tia Pugh Immune Deficiency.

Anyone interested in becoming an organ donor should log on to organdonation.nhs.uk/how_to_become_a_donor.