FOUR-year-old Sam Shaw’s parents know what they want for Christmas - for their son to make a swift recovery.

The Hoddlesden youngster begins his third course of immunotherapy on Christmas Day in his fight against neuroblastoma.

Sam, of Glencoe Avenue, has been in Philadelphia since late October after people across East Lancashire raised £250,000 needed for his treatment.

With mum and dad Carl and Christine, he has been able to enjoy some Christmas fun over the past few days, but on Wednesday he will have his next injection from the family’s Philadelphia ‘home’ before going into hospital on Friday.

Christine said: “This has been a very difficult year for us but Sam has stayed amazingly strong throughout. After his last course of antibody treatment, he really did suffer, but he came around and our happy smiling little boy has been back enjoying Christmas.”

Sam visited a variety of local attractions and met Santa Claus twice! Christine added: “Sam is so excited about Christmas that we are getting lost in the magic of it with him.

“The beautiful snow that we have been having here over the last couple of weeks makes it feel very Christmassy.

"He met Father Christmas when we visited Dickens’ Village and the Christmas Tree lightshow in Macy’s, it was a really magical experience and he hasn’t stopped talking about it since.

"And during a visit to ‘story time’ at a local bookstore, Santa made another susprise visit.

“We are just thankful to be spending Christmas this year together as a family all under one roof, with Sam feeling well enough to enjoy it.

"Our happy, playful, funny, chatty little boy is back with us and now his hair has grown back he looks like any other little boy except for his feeding tube. So we feel so grateful that he is happy and he doesn’t remember what life was like before his diagnosis.

“He copes with so much he really deserves a very special Christmas.”