THE PARENTS of an Irvine schoolgirl who died from an inoperable brain tumour paid tribute to their 'baby girl’ on the fourth anniversary of her death.

Chloe McNeil tragically lost her life on June 16, 2011 after being diagnosed with Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG) - a rare brain tumour affecting only 35 children a year in the UK. She was just 11-years-old.

Since her death her devastated parents Elaine and Mark have struggled to come to terms with their loss.

But in their grief the brave couple set up the charity Chloe’s Chemoo Cows in memory of their daughter. The charity provides all children receiving chemotherapy at the Schiehallion Ward at Yorkhill with their own Chemoo Cow gift box containing a soft toy cow, bookmark, sticker and certificate.

Posting on the charity’s Facebook page this week mum Elaine said despite four years passing since they lost their precious girl, the pain is still the same.

She said: “There are times in this journey of grief that are harder than others. Birthdays, anniversaries, new births, special days, they’re hard because of the date, a specific, something that measures time.

“Today’s one of those days. The four year anniversary of the day Chloe died. Four years, it’s incomprehensible, to have survived this long when I barely thought it possible to have survived a day. For weeks now we’ve been trying not to think about the horror of those last hours, days, weeks, but every year it comes, and we’re right back there in that moment. Not that we don’t miss her every day, but there’s something hard about these 'special days’.

“Anniversaries are hard as you can’t help but think about how life hasn’t turned out the way we expected. Sometimes when I think about what we’ve lost I lose control. I can’t breathe, because the world not only took our daughter away, it took us away, it took away our blissful ignorance of the terrible things that can happen.

"It took away our dreams of the future. It took away our plans and hopes. It took away our laughter and our silliness. It robbed us of the life we planned for ourselves. It’s very easy to feel as though life is unfair and you have been so deeply wronged that you have the right to be angry. But it doesn’t change anything so when I feel it rising, I work hard to remember all the gifts and beauty that Chloe’s life brought us.” Elaine also revealed that four years on, Chloe’s memory lives on through her photographs and belongings around the family home. Even her bedroom remains the same.

She said: “I have photos of Chloe everywhere but I can’t look through albums. Her shoes are still in the basket at the front door but I can’t look inside it.

"Her room is untouched, as she left it but I can’t go through her cupboards or drawers without feeling sick. Instead, I try to live in the present. To not think or feel, it’s much too painful. I try to focus on the now, to lose myself in work, to tell myself I’m making a difference.

“We love you to the moon and back baby girl.” If you would like to donate to Chloe’s Chemoo Cows please visit www.chloeschemoocows.com