Starving "witch" boy who was left for dead has just had his first day at school!

A starving child who was left for dead by his parents who thought he was a witch, has been pictured full of joy as he sets off for for his first day at school.

Photographs of the then two-year-old boy known as Hope broke the world's hearts last year after a charity worker found him emaciated and riddled with worms after being abandoned.

Having made a miraculous recovery, the now healthy-looking youngster has started school.

Hope was abandoned by his family because they thought he was a witch and was found in the streets by Anja Ringgren Loven, a Danish woman living in Africa, in January 2016.

A year on, she posted amazing before and after photographs of her holding a water bottle up to the boy's mouth.

In an emotional Facebook post, she wrote: 'On the 30th of January 2016 I went on a rescue mission with David Emmanuel Umem, Nsidibe Orok and our Nigerian team.

"A rescue mission that went viral, and today it's exactly one year ago the world came to know a young little boy called Hope.

"This week Hope will start school."

Back in January, Ms Loven found the boy after he spent eight months fending for himself and living off scraps.

She bent down and gently began feeding him and giving him water from a bottle. She then wrapped up the disorientated toddler in a blanket and took him to the nearest hospital for treatment.

When Hope reached the hospital, he was given medication to remove the worms from his stomach and daily blood transfusions to incorporate more red blood cells into his body, Ms Loven said.

Two days after the aid worker asked for the community's help with Hope's costly medical bills, she received more than $1million in donations from around the world.

Just eight weeks later, Hope was unrecognisable having gained weight and pictured smiling and playing with other children.

Ms Loven is the founder of African Children's Aid Education and Development Foundation, which she created three years ago to help children who have been labelled witches and therefore neglected or even killed by the members of their community.

"Thousands of children are being accused of being witches and we've both seen torture of children, dead children and frightened children," she wrote on Facebook, accompanying images of her feeding the young boy and appealing for donations to help pay for his medical bills in January.

"With all the money, we can, besides giving Hope the very best treatment, now also build a doctor clinic on the new land and save many more children out of torture," she said two months after his rescue.

Ms Loven runs a children's centre where the youngsters she rescues live and receives medical care, food and schooling.

She and her husband, David Emmanuel Umem, began building their own orphanage in late January last year.

They regularly share posts of their progress on social media and have garnered a huge following.

- Daily Mail