"My brave boy has gone with the angels today".
The family of Briton Bradley Lowery, 6, announced the death of the young man suffering from neuroblastoma, a rare type of cancer.
Lowery was diagnosed with this disease when he was 18 months old and his story shocked many.
The youngster was a fan of the English football club Sunderland, which turned him into a kind of pet and established a relationship of friendship with his "hero", now football ex-front of the team Jermain Defoe.
The death of the child was confirmed by his family in social networks.
"He was our little superhero and he fought the biggest fight, but he needed it elsewhere. There are no words to describe how sad we are".
Bradley was put on treatment and the disease was in remission following the decline in the presence of cancer but relapsed last year.
In 2016, more than $ 900,000 was raised for the child to receive antibody treatment in New York, but doctors found that his cancer had worsened and was terminal.
In December, Bradley's parents, Gemma and Carl, received the news that Bradley only had "months of life".
Last July 1st, the family published a photo of the little boy with Defoe who came to visit him.
On Thursday, before Bradley's death, Defoe burst into tears at a news conference at his new football club, Bournemouth, when he referred to the boy. "It will always be in my heart," he said.
Bradley became known around the world after a campaign in which he received 250,000 Christmas cards from countries such as Australia and New Zealand.
In addition to participating in various sports and social events, his dream came true in March when he appeared with the England football team at Wembley Stadium before the game against Lithuania in which Defoe scored a goal.
Without cure
Fewer than 100 children in the United Kingdom and 700 in the United States are diagnosed each year with neuroblastoma and the majority of those living with this disease are younger than five years.
Guy Blanchard, president of Neuroblastoma UK, a nonprofit organization that raises funds to treat the disease, said: "Everyone in the neuroblastoma community will be saddened to hear the news of Bradley's death".
Blanchard added that "their history has raised awareness of a disease that is responsible for the death of one in six children suffering from cancer".
"Through research to improve both diagnosis and treatment of the disease, we will find a cure", he added.
SOURCE: BBC
