Bradley Lowery: Sunderland fan dies after long illness
Six-year-old Bradley Lowery, whose plight touched tens of thousands of people, has died after a long illness.
The Sunderland fan was diagnosed with neuroblastoma - a rare type of cancer - when he was 18 months old.
Bradley went on to be the club's mascot and became "best mates" with his hero, striker Jermain Defoe. He also led England out at Wembley for a World Cup qualifier against Lithuania.
His death was confirmed on social media by his parents.
The posting read:
"My brave boy has went with the angels today.
"He was our little superhero and put the biggest fight up but he was needed else where. There are no words to describe how heart broken we are."
Bradley underwent treatment and was in remission, but relapsed last year.
Well-wishers raised more than £700,000 in 2016 to pay for him to be given antibody treatment in New York, but medics then found his cancer had grown and the family were informed his illness was terminal.
In December, Bradley's parents Gemma and Carl, from Blackhall Colliery in County Durham, were told he only had "months to live".
Source: BBC
N.B.
What is neuroblastoma?
It is a rare type of cancer that mostly affects babies and young children
It develops from specialised nerve cells (neuroblasts) left behind from a baby's development in the womb
It affects about 100 children each year in the UK
The cause is unknown
In very rare cases children in the same family can be affected, but generally neuroblastoma does not run in families
