Heart-warming moment girl, 8, bursts into tears as cancer-stricken father surprises her with early return from hospital after life-saving operation

A DAD who battled cancer for six years has filmed the moment his eight-year-old daughter was told he was cancer-free.

Maisy Dickson had never spent a night away from her dad Chris, until he was admitted into hospital to have his bladder removed.

Chris, 43, was expected to stay in hospital for two weeks following the nine-hour operation, but doctors allowed him to leave after just nine days, meaning he could surprise daughter Maisy.

When the eight-year-old returned from school, mum Sharon told her to go upstairs and check her phone for any updates off her dad.

And to Maisy’s surprise, Chris had sent her a photo from the sofa asking for a hug.

Little Maisy rushed down the stairs and was hysterical when she saw her dad, bursting into floods of tears, with Chris explaining he also broke down when he saw his little girl’s reaction.

“I hid on the sofa in the living room and she ran upstairs,” he explained.

“My wife told her to check her Snapchat because her dad had sent her a message from hospital and was waiting for a reply.

“I’d actually sent her one from the sofa asking her for a hug.

“I have never been away from my daughter for even a night.

“She flew down the stairs and screamed when she saw me. She completely broke down, I had never seen her like that before.

“I broke down as well, I had never ever felt anyone show so much love towards me.”

Chris was diagnosed with bladder cancer six years ago, but despite numerous rounds of chemotherapy, tumours were reappearing every three months.

After two more were detected in July, Chris made the decision to have a cystectomy.

The dad-of-three said: “I know it doesn’t sound like a long time six years, but when you live through it, it feels like sixty years.

“I was in agony after the operation. I still am, but at least my children can wake up every day knowing their father is going to live.

“Maisy has seen me battling cancer for six years, it has affected her too.

“It was very traumatic for her. She visited me while I was in hospital and was distraught when she left. She completely broke down.

“She’s only eight, so we didn’t go into too much detail, but we felt like we couldn’t lie to her either.

“For an eight-year-old to deal with all that, it’s incredible.”

Maisy said she was the “happiest girl in the world”, adding: “My daddy is my best friend and I hated him being in hospital, now I’ve got him back cancer-free for the rest of my life.”

In other parenting news, we told you how one mum comforts her daughter with separation anxiety using heart-shaped ‘hug button’ which sends her a cuddle at school and ‘charges’ when holding hands.

We also revealed mums are going wild for Poundshop’s head lice repellent… and it works as a detangling spray too.

And we showed you how the mum who gave birth via cesarean says she ‘nearly died’ after C-section infection was ‘eating her insides’.