Ella Chadwick's first Christmas on her own two feet

Ella Chadwick is the little girl who's had a huge year. The 8 year old from Whitworth near Rochdale was born with a rare illness called congenital nephrotic syndrome which damaged her kidneys.

She had 40 operations in her first six years, including surgery for the donation of a kidney from her dad Martin, in 2010, which did not take.

But, after a lifesaving kidney transplant courtesy of gran she took her first steps unaided just a few months ago.

Since then Ella's been unstoppable and has had an incredible 2015, and this Christmas will be the first she'll spend on her own two feet.

As well as taking part in a number of charity runs and fundraising for the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital Ella is always in fine voice. She even auditioned for Simon Cowell on he Xfactor, see his reaction below:

Ella's favourite song to sing is 'Don't Stop Believing' by Journey, a phrase that seems to have become her motto in life.

She hopes to become a star of the stage in the future after recently seeing Matilda in London. And we predict big things for her in 2016.