The four-year-old from Fleckney was released from hospital in Florida yesterday morning (Monday, October 6) and is said to be running around and playing, according to his dad, Paul, who is still in the UK with Alex's seven-year-old sister Felicity.

Mr Barnes said: "I spoke to my wife last night and she says Alex has been running around and playing as normal."

The toddler was in surgery for six hours on Wednesday afternoon (10.15am Florida time) and a post-op MRI scan was said to be clear.

Alex came out of intensive care on Saturday and was put on a regular ward at the Wolfson Children's Hospital in Jacksonville, Florida.

Mr Barnes is hoping to fly out to Florida in the next few weeks when a date has been set for Alex to have further proton treatment.

He said: "I'm just so relieved the operation was a success. Last time he had an operation an optic nerve was damaged and he couldn't walk for six weeks. And he now has a permanent squint because of this."

Alex's grandad, Bill Malehorn, heard the youngster talk just a few hours after last week's operation. He said: "Rosalie stayed at the hospital after the operation by his bedside. He was conscious for a little while and I heard him say 'Mummy, they removed my booboo.'"

Alex was first diagnosed with a brain tumour, an anaplastic ependymoma, in February 2006. He had the growth removed in a nine-hour operation and had 14 months of chemotherapy, which at first looked as if it had saved his life.

However, after a routine scan in August this year, the family got the news that there was something wrong. Doctors later told the family Alex needed the urgent operation within a week before the tumour spread.

The youngsters parents, Ros and Paul, were given that shattering news on Tuesday, September 16 - Mrs Barnes' 44th birthday.

Mrs Barnes said: "It's a parents worse nightmare. I was lost for words I just felt like someone had stabbed me in the chest."

Alex needed the operation before the cancer cells started to duplicate. Mrs Barnes added: "He could have had the operation in the UK but he would be offered radiotherapy, which can only be done once and can cause brain damage.

"We did some research and discovered a proton treatment, which has good results and does not have the same side-effects as radiotherapy. But it's not available in the UK."

Mrs Barnes, who is from Weymouth, emigrated to Florida when she was 11 when her mum married an American man. She later returned to the UK when we was 17 but her mum and step-dad still live in Florida.

Alex and his mum will be staying at their home throughout the treatment.

The doctors at Wolfson Children's Hospital, in Jacksonville, Florida, waived the operation fee, after Alex's grandparents approached them for help.

This made the amount needed for the treatment - £70,000 - more realistic for the Barnes family.

An appeal was launched to raise the funds and within five days £25,000 flooded into Alex's school, Stoneygate School in Great Glen.

And Alex's grandad, Ron, of Albert Road, Fleckney, gave £30,000 of his life-savings for his grandson.

Mrs Barnes and Alex flew out on September 24 to meet the doctors who performed the operation.