A BRAVE little girl with a rare kidney disease is still battling the condition.

Seven-year-old Amber Hirons, who was featured in the Worcester News two-and-a-half years ago when she was nominated for a Hunt For A Hero award, is still laughing in the face of the severe health problems that have come her way.

Only a handful of children in Britain are thought to suffer from the type of cirrhosis of the kidneys that is affecting Amber.

But she is growing up and getting on with life regardless. A kidney transplant three weeks ago was unsuccessful and, as a side-effect of her bad kidneys, she now has heart problems too.

Her father Anthony, aged 38, says his days are full, looking after Amber and taking her to and from Birmingham's Children's Hospital.

"She's a fighter," he said. "She's high spirited and doesn't let it get her down. She's just had a transplant but the disease has come back.

"People knew she was ill a couple of years ago when she was in the paper but they don't realise she hasn't got any better."

Amber, who lives in Farncombe Terrace, Pershore, will soon turn eight. She first showed signs of the rare disease on Boxing Day when she was just three.

That means the the last five years of her life have been full of treatment, dialysis and days missed at Abbey Park First School.

"I really can't fault the staff at Birmingham Children's Hospital at all," said Mr Hirons, whose wife Tina, aged 34, has just given birth to Leah, a sister for Amber.

"Amber's been through so much but the hospital's the best in the country. The nurses are superb."

The next step is to take out her old kidneys to see whether they have passed the disease on to the new transplant.

The future is uncertain. "She's happy within herself," said her father. "She likes watching TV, going to the park or into town or just driving us mad.

"She knows she's ill but she's got used to that and she has loads of friends. She's so popular at her school.

"And she keeps on smiling."