A 15-year-old girl, who has battled a rare cancer three times, has been given the all-clear following a life-changing surgery in New York.

Kira Noble has already endured several rounds of chemotherapy, major abdominal surgery, radiotherapy as well as taking oral drugs to try and defeat the rare neuroblastoma.

Her mother, friends and wellwishers across the world raised hundreds of thousands of pounds to allow her to travel to America to undertake the surgery.

Last month, Kira successfully had her tumour taken out after a gruelling seven hours of treatment at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre in New York.

Kira, speaking to STV News, said that she didn't feel nervous before the surgery.

She said: "I got less nervous after I got to New York and spoke to the surgeons who went over what they were going to do - it helped a lot, knowing."

Her mother Aud, 51, said that meeting the surgeon was like "meeting my hero", adding: "I knew how fantastic this skilled surgeon was."

After almost seven hours of surgery, doctors told Aud that they had managed to remove all of the tumor.

Aud said: "I was just absolutely elated. Just off the scale. Not surprised - I keep saying this because I was not surprised. I had so much faith and hope in this surgeon."

Kira was initially told by the doctors post-surgery that they had removed it all, but had to be told again the next day by her mother, after recovering from the operation.

Kira said it was incredible news, adding: "It was a lot of relief, getting those scan results. That proved it for me, it is all gone.

"Getting scans isn't fun - you worry that something might come up that they've not seen in surgery. But it's great that it's come back clear."

She added: "It's quite amazing to know my future is going to happen. Because obviously if I hadn't had this surgery, it might not of."

But the journey isn't quite over for Kira yet.

Due to microscopic traces of the cancer still existing in her system, the teenager will still have to undergo one or two rounds of chemotherapy before the doctors decide what is next in her care plan.

This will be Kira's 19th round of chemotherapy, saying: "You just kind of get used to it.

"I just have to take every day as it comes, and see how it goes.

"I can definitely see the light at the end of the tunnel now."