A MOTHER had a nightmare she was at her daughter’s funeral so rushed her to hospital – only to find out the four-year-old had cancer.

After waking up in tears, Laks Rana, of Crawley, says she had a “gut feeling” her daughter Anaya and brother Amrit needed to see a doctor.

“I had this awful dream - I had lost both kids and I saw myself at a funeral,” she said. "I woke up, sitting up in bed, crying.

"I felt silly, but I just had this gut feeling I had to get them to the doctors – I felt something was guiding me to do it."

The Argus: Anaya and Amrit Rana Anaya and Amrit Rana

Eight-year-old Amrit was given the all-clear at Crawley Hospital, but Anaya was referred for urgent checks after a doctor noticed unexplained bruising on her legs.

It was at East Surrey Hospital a few days later that doctors confirmed Anaya had acute lymphoblastic leukaemia - a type of cancer that affects white blood cells.

"Being told Anaya had cancer was a complete shock. It didn’t seem real that this could be happening to us," Laks said.

Anaya, now aged six, was diagnosed in February 2020 - just before the UK went into lockdown.

Prior to the diagnosis, Laks and her mother-in-law noticed bruising on Anaya’s legs but put it down to play fights with her brother and cousins.

After her vivid dream, Laks took the Milton Mount Primary schoolgirl to the walk-in centre at Crawley Hospital where a doctor raised concerns about Anaya's liver and spleen.

The Argus: Laks Rana, of Crawley, with her daughter Anaya Laks Rana, of Crawley, with her daughter Anaya

The mother-of-two was asked to wait outside while the doctor contacted paediatrics at East Surrey Hospital, insisting she was seen quickly.

"I’m very grateful to him because he was persistent," she said.

Anaya went straight into six months of intense chemotherapy treatment at the Royal Marsden Hospital.

Laks, who described her daughter as a "happy, sweet, yet cheeky child", said she "wasn't poorly at all when she was diagnosed" - even eating a Nando's lunch on the day of her diagnosis.

The Argus: Anaya Rana on the day of her cancer diagnosis Anaya Rana on the day of her cancer diagnosis

Laks described going into "survival mode" during the first couple of weeks, before lockdown made things even trickier for the family, with brother Amrit unable to visit his sister in hospital.

“It was difficult for both kids as they are very close, yet they had to be apart for more than two weeks because Amrit had chicken pox which we were told could be dangerous for children with cancer,” she said.

“He had to stay with family and became homesick – he couldn’t understand why he couldn’t see his family.”

Laks said the most difficult part of her daughter’s treatment was when Anaya become a “daddy’s girl” with her husband Harpreet.

"There were seven or eight weeks when she didn’t want me to come near her,” she said.

"If she needed help with changing, brushing her teeth, literally anything, it was daddy she wanted with her.

"He had to do everything, which was of course exhausting physically for him, but mentally tearing me apart that I couldn’t even be there to comfort my sick child.”

The Rana family is backing TK Maxx’s Give Up Clothes for Good campaign in support of Cancer Research UK for Children and Young People during Childhood Cancer Awareness Month in September.

The family is urging people to clear out their wardrobes and donate clothes and homeware to their nearest TK Maxx store.

Funds raised will help more children and young people like Anaya survive cancer.

Anaya is one of 240 children in the South East who are diagnosed with cancer every year.

“It’s thanks to research that Anaya is here today,” Laks added.