KUALA LUMPUR: Kee Jin Yen may be a small 3-year-old but she licked the Big C against all odds. Her doctors and parents were astonished with the resilience of this "miracle baby" when she bounced back from chemotherapy, surgery and endured numerous treatments in various hospitals.

Her birth came in an almost perfect delivery for her mother, Ngoo Lee San, at Selayang Hospital.

But six months later, something was definitely amiss: her head was always tilted to one side.

"She was born a normal baby weighing 3.8kg. It was only after six months that we noticed that Jin Yen kept tilting her head to one side as if there was something on her neck.

"We took her to a private clinic who referred us back to Selayang Hospital."

Doctors there recommended that Jin Yen undergo physiotherapy and a MRI scan, said her father Boon Siang, a broadband promoter and property negotiator.

The MRI showed that Jin Yen had a 5cm tumour at the back of her brain, a condition known as Medulloblastoma T1MO.

The hospital could not perform such a delicate operation and referred her to Kuala Lumpur Hospital.

As there was a long waiting list, Boon Siang took his daughter to Sunway Medical Centre to remove the tumour.

"We later took her to the University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) for five chemotherapy sessions as we couldn't afford the fees at Sunway Medical Centre.

"By then, we had spent RM40,000, which we had raised from family and friends."

Dr Chong Lee Ai of UMMC's paediatrics department, Haematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation Division, recommended that Jin Yen undergo a bone marrow transplant to improve her chances of permanent recovery.

But another RM30,000 was needed for Jin Yen to undergo an autologous stem cell transplant.

"Dr Chong recommended that we contact the New Straits Times Press for financial aid.

"We got in touch with Kak Aidah (Nordin, senior executive of the NST charity unit) who helped us raise the money in a month."

A total of RM57,000 was collected, including a RM15,000 donation from the Camberwell Club. The surplus RM27,000 was placed in the NSTP general fund to help other deserving cases.

Boon Siang will never forget the anxious moments when his little girl was wheeled into the operating theatre.

"She kept calling out 'papa' and 'mama'. It was absolutely heart-wrenching.

"We felt helpless. It was the longest six hours for us as we waited outside the operation room."

He said the manner in which Malaysians came to his daughter's aid showed that "there are many caring people out there who will not hesitate to help those in need."

Ngoo wants to enrol Jin Yen in kindergarten next year "as she has been asking us so many times to do so".

Jin Yen is as precocious as they come, giving an impish grin for the photographer at a recent interview.