In their search for information on the illness, they made contact with Jon Pritchard, a consultant at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh and one of a small number of experts on the condition, and for the first time realised Sabina could survive.

When the couple saw how ill Sabina was after her first bout of chemotherapy in Romania, they resolved to bring her to Scotland. They said they were encouraged by their oncologist in Romania, as few cases of the illness are handled at home.

HOPEFUL: Sabina Cimpeanu has been brought by her parents, [Cristina Cimpeanu] and Floren, to hospital in Edinburgh. Picture: Gordon Terris