THE heartbroken parents of a ten-year-old girl who lost her fight against cancer have told friends “stop what you are doing and cry with us”.

Brave Pearl Dixie BartlettBundy, of Hassocks, lost her 11-month battle with cancer last week.

Her mother Rachel she said: “She was very inspirational and rarely got upset.

“The last thing I said to her was that when her body was too tired she could come and live in our hearts instead. That is where she is.

“Cancer has robbed the world of a true light. Stop what you are doing and cry with us where ever you are.

“Pearl let go of life just before 2.25am. Surrounded by love in the arms of her mummy, daddy and little brother. “ Her father Jamie also paid a heart-rending tribute to Pearl. He said: “We will always be a family of four, just that one of us will never grow older than ten.

"She didn’t cry when she found she found out she had cancer or lose her hair or when the doctors told us they thought was terminal.

"She fought it with such grace.

“She was a mini Audrey Hepburn.

“These are hardest days of our lives. We miss Pearl with all of our hearts.

“Don’t be scared of making us cry by mentioning her name, the only thing that could make us sadder than we are now is for people to avoid talking about her.

“Grief is a response to love without love there is no grief.

“When I’m crying I try and think of this as there has been and is so much love.

“I now feel like I understand the true meaning of hate. Because I hate cancer.”

Pearl was diagnosed with the rare aggressive bone cancer Ewings sarcoma last November. Within a week she changed from a bright, energetic girl with a love of dance to being bound to a wheelchair.

By the time she was diagnosed, the tumour was already the size of a melon, squashing her vital organs, before spreading to her legs, pelvis and lower vertebrae, making it too painful for her to walk and she underwent the most aggressive form of chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

Pearl’s dearest wish was to own her own pony and, after her diagnosis, with the help of generous friends and family, the funds were raised to buy Maisie.

Pearl spent as much time as she could with Maisie and in her dying days wasn’t able to visit her beloved pony. So they brought Maisie to the family’s home to visit her. She also asked her family to help raise money to look after other horses after she was gone Donate to the World Horse Welfare Fund at https://tributegiving.worldhorsewelfare.org/funds/50.Help raise £2,400 to care for Pearl’s pony at https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/magicmaisie.

To donate to the children’s cancer fund for research into Ewing’s Sarcoma http://www.cclg.org.uk/PearlPower.