Christmas and the New Year is often a time for people to look forward to a fresh start.

But it can also be a time to reflect.

And for the Carr family there is certainly reason to celebrate.

They have the chance to spend the festive season with their daughter Beatrice who has stunned everyone with her iron will to survive.

You will struggle to find a more heartwarming story, or one which offers more hope.

Beatrice was a healthy schoolgirl until she suffered a severe asthma attack which almost killed her.

The profoundly brain damaged 14-year-old former Beckley Primary School girl was on a life-support machine in December last year and had her breathing tube removed at Helen and Douglas House.

Doctors warned her parents Joanna Swindells Carr and Paul Carr to expect the worst, but against all odds the teenager slowly improved, and in May returned home to Marston.

Since then, Bea has grown stronger.

Life is not easy for the family or Beatrice.

But it is a great story of courage, determination and a battling young lady who has never given up.

We think she encapsulates the true spirit of Christmas.