IT HAS been the toughest year he could ever have imagined.
Now, Tom Marton is pleased to be able to put 2012 behind him and is looking ahead to a better new year.
Since he was diagnosed with a brain tumour in March, 14-year-old Tom has undergone major surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
Just weeks after a 14-hour operation to remove the tumour, Tom was back at Beverley Grammar School in September to start his GCSEs.
Now, he is looking forward to spending new year with his family after attending Leeds General Infirmary for a scan this week.
Tom says: "What a rubbish year it has been. I thought 2012 was supposed to be a great year. Just bring on 2013."
Pleased to be back at school, he has been working hard on his studies.
He will get the results of his scan just days into the new year and there will be more checks in the years to come.
It will be five years before doctors are able to give a final all-clear.
Tom's mum Hilary said: "Until our five years are up, I will always have this nagging doubt in the back of my mind.
"But we are back on an even keel, this is the new normal.
"I am back at work permanently and the two boys are back at school.
"We are back to how it was, more or less.
"I do worry but there's nothing you can do about it."
Hilary says Tom and his brother Jack, 16, have shown incredible resilience.
She says: "Tom and his brother Jack have got over it much more than me. They have put it behind them much more than I have.
"Either that or they are hiding it all from me.
"I still worry a lot and silly little things upset me."
Tom said his mum was upset when he found a present she had given him last Christmas.
He says: "I used to have long hair, so last Christmas my mum got me some mini-hair straighteners.
"Of course, I was diagnosed a couple of months after Christmas and then I lost my hair because of the treatment, so I didn't have a chance to use them. I found the straighteners when I was tidying my room and it's things like that which can upset my mum.
"Jack and I are the only two people who have not cried."
A-level student Jack, who shaved his head when Tom's hair was falling out, said his brother's illness has brought them closer together.
He said: "I reckon everyone has their moments. You just have to be there and be the strong one.
"But whether it's had an impact on me and whether it has sunk in yet, I probably would say I don't know.
"It's something in life you have deal with.
"Everyone has got closer with Tom, and Tom and I don't argue half as much as we used to. We can talk about everything, there's nothing we would not talk about anymore.
"The worst has happened. There's nothing that can get any worse than this."
Tom's hair is now growing back following his treatment but he was still delighted to receive a selection of hats for Christmas.
He says: "I have always liked hats. Even when I had hair, I always had a selection."
The boys' parents are divorced but they all got together over Christmas at their dad's home in Scarborough, together with their stepbrothers and stepsister.
Hilary said: "Everyone wanted to see everyone at Christmas. It has been a tough year."
