By Mark HeathA GRIEVING couple have paid tribute to their five-year-old daughter who has died after battling against an incurable brain tumour for almost two months.

By Mark Heath

A GRIEVING couple have paid tribute to their five-year-old daughter who has died after battling against an incurable brain tumour for almost two months.

Kath and Mick Perry were by their daughter Indianna's bedside when she died on Sunday - just weeks after being diagnosed with the inoperable tumour.

Mr Perry, 32, said: “She was brave and she never complained or moaned about what was happening to her.

“We'll remember her kindness and her complete selflessness. You haven't got enough room in your paper to put in all the things she was.

“She was kind, generous, sweet, funny - she was all of those things and a million more as well.”

The couple said Indianna - who celebrated her fifth birthday last month - had taken a turn for the worse last week while they were staying in a children's hospice in Milton.

“She literally woke up on Wednesday morning and she'd completely changed - she'd gone down hill overnight,” said Mr Perry, of Locarno Road, Ipswich.

“The cancer was so aggressive that it just took her over and I suppose it must have expanded or something - we just wanted to get her home.”

The couple brought their stricken daughter back to Ipswich, with Mr Perry working tirelessly to redecorate her room as they had promised.

Meanwhile, Indianna got to spend some time with her new little sister, Meg, whom she named when she was born last month.

Mrs Perry said: “I think Indianna knew she was going. She just wanted to get home, see her sister and be in her room.

“She died with us - we were both with her. She was unconscious, but we thought she could still hear us, so we kept talking to her. She grabbed our hands and opened her eyes - and then she went.”

Indianna's funeral will be held at Ipswich Crematorium on Thursday, where invited family and friends will say their goodbyes.

There will be a horse-drawn procession leading to the crematorium, with the cortege decorated in pink and purple - Indianna's favourite colours.

Mrs Perry said: “The baby is the only thing that's kept us from completely cracking up. We have to try to eat and sleep and do normal things.

“There's not a strong enough word to describe how we feel at having Indianna taken away from us. It's not right - she was only five years old.”

The couple also thanked people who had joined together to raise money for Indianna through numerous events over the past few weeks.

It was hoped the cash would be used to give the youngster the holiday of a lifetime before she died, but now the couple plan to make a donation to a children's brain cancer charity.

“We had so many plans set up for her. We were going to go to Center Parcs and we were looking into taking her swimming with dolphins, but we didn't get to do any of those things,” said Mr Perry.

“The paper is the only voice we've got to thank everyone who has helped us. We don't know 70% of the people who turned up at the events, so this is the only way we've got of thanking them.

“We just want everybody to know how grateful and happy we are with the support that they've given us.

“The fundraising and everything will still help us - we are just so sorry that we couldn't take Indianna where she wanted to go.”

mark.heath@eadt.co.uk