A couple whose lives were turned upside down when their little boy was diagnosed with a brain tumour have spoken of his bravery and their delight that their 'little soldier' is well enough to be a page boy on their wedding today.

Little Jesse Langford-Daley, who turned one on April 22, has been battling a rare atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumour followed by other complications which led to him having an emergency four-and-a-half hour operation last Wednesday.

But thankfully the youngster is recovering well from his latest surgery, and with the help of staff from the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, he will be able to attend the wedding of his parents, Anneka Daley and Michelle Langford, at Tuddenham Mill, near Newmarket, today.

'We would not want to go ahead if Jesse wasn't there - he is our world. We are desperate to share his last name - because he is already a Langford-Daley. It is really special for us to complete the jigsaw of our family,' said Miss Daley, from Carbrooke, near Watton.

'The hospital has been amazing with the arrangements for our wedding and two nurses are coming to look after him. We feel very grateful for him to be there. The hospital really understands how important it is.'

It was in February this year that Jesse was diagnosed with the tumour, and he was sent straight to Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge where he underwent a seven-and-a-half-hour operation.

Surgeons were able to remove 95pc of the tumour, but it had already affected some of the nerves in his brain and has left Jesse unable to swallow and digest food himself.

Jesse is now fed via a central line, and complications with this last week led to him twice suffering a respiratory arrest and the need for the operation on Wednesday.

But despite all of this the inspiring youngster was yesterday smiling and well enough to play, and today he will be the most important guest at his parents' wedding day.

Miss Daley said: 'He is absolutely amazing, he is incredible. I think most of us adults would still be lying flat on our backs after the first operation, let along everything else he has been through. He has got a long way to go but he is an absolute trooper. Proud doesn't really do justice to how we feel, but we are the proudest parents.'