A FIVE-year-old has amazed doctors by winning his battle against a rare form of brain cancer.

Ryder Evans-Brockett was given only a 30 per cent chance of survival after being diagnosed with an inoperable tumour in May.

The Canadian youngster, whose dad Jimi is from Rochdale, has been undergoing chemotherapy at a children’s hospital in Vancouver.

Against all the odds, he’s made a remarkable recovery and relatives were delighted when a crucial MRI scan showed that the treatment has worked and he’s now cancer free.

Speaking from his Canadian home, Jimi told the Observer that the results of the scan had given him and his partner Nicole the ‘best news ever’.

He added: "We are over the moon because we’ve been hoping for this for a long time.

"I phoned my family in Rochdale and they were overwhelmed. Ryder is such a fighter and refused to let the cancer beat him.

"We just want to thank everyone back home that has followed Ryder’s story in the Rochdale Observer.

"His treatment has cost thousands of dollars and the fund-raising back home has been fantastic. It’s nice to know that people care."

Even though Ryder was born in Canada, he has strong ties to Rochdale and visited the town on a number of occasions in 2005.

His aunt, Jacquie Collinge, of Bracken Lee Fold, Norden, now hopes to visit him next year.

She said: "My brother rang me late on Tuesday night to tell me that Ryder’s MRI scan had come back clear with no signs of cancer.

"He still has to have the stem cells put back, as well as check ups, but this is the best news we have had for a very long five months."

His stem cell treatment is expected to start in two weeks’ time and then Ryder should be able to return to a normal life.

To read the family’s online journal, visit www.caringbridge.org/visit/ryder.