Heart-wrenching story of how brave Bradley Lowery, 5, struck up bond with ‘best pal’ and footie ace Jermain Defoe as he battles terminal cancer
FOOTBALL, as legendary Liverpool manager Bill Shankly once said, is much more important than life and death.
And it is the love of the game — and one player in particular — that is giving little Bradley Lowery strength to keep fighting the cancer that is slowly taking his life.
Less than 24 hours after the five-year-old led England out at Wembley on Sunday, hand in hand with the recalled Jermain Defoe, he was back in hospital for chemotherapy.
There is no chance of recovery, yet brave Bradley refuses to give up, willed on every step of the way by the Sunderland goal machine he calls his “best mate”.
The touching pictures of the pair leading the national team out for the World Cup qualifier against Lithuania are just the latest chapter in a remarkable and unlikely friendship.
It was a special day for Jermain who, inspired by Bradley all season, scored and was named man of the match in his first England game since 2013.
He said after the match that he “had to score for Brad” and admitted he had struggled to “keep it together” emotionally.
You don’t want to show you’re upset
The pals hit it off the moment they met, when Sunderland fan Bradley was invited to be a mascot for the home game against Everton last September.
He was nearly four years into his cancer battle at that point but could hardly contain his excitement at meeting his hero for the first time.
Jermain, 34, said later: “I couldn’t believe he wasn’t well.
“Before the game I walked in and all the other kids were quiet and shy, but he was buzzing, ‘Where’s Jermain?’ He ran over and sat on my lap.”
As for Bradley, whose name the Stadium of Light crowd chanted at the match, told his local paper: “This has been amazing. I got to meet Jermain Defoe, who’s my favourite and everyone said my name.”
The incredible bond has revealed a caring side to Jermain, who in his younger days was on the front pages almost as often as the back owing to a colourful love life.
He is hailed by Black Cats fans as “fantastic player, fantastic person” — for giving their struggling side hope on the pitch and giving Bradley hope off it.
The youngster was diagnosed with neuroblastoma — a rare cancer that affects babies and young children — when he was 18 months old in January 2013, after a tumour was found above his left kidney.
Given a 50-50 chance of survival, hospital staff nicknamed him “Resus Brad” after the many times they had to call the resuscitation trolley to his room to save him.
Mum Gemma, 34, said: “Not one nurse, not one doctor, thought he was going to come out of it. He was that close they were talking about turning his machines off. But he pulled through.”
In December 2015, after two years of treatment, the family was told Bradley was free of the illness. But it returned last July — and spread.
Heartbroken Gemma and husband Carl, a builder, 34, learned just before last Christmas that their little boy’s cancer was terminal. Last month scans revealed a fresh tumour in his back.
Bradley is the first patient in the UK to receive a £35,000 pioneering treatment that combines chemo with an antibody to zap the cancer cells.
He has the final round this week, followed by more scans.
Doctors have warned Gemma and Carl, who also have son Keiran, 15, that the chemo being used to extend his life is so gruelling that any more would weaken Bradley’s body rather than protect it.
Gemma, of Blackhall Colliery, Co Durham, said last month: “We’re devastated. We’re not sure where we go from here. Why is life so cruel? Why do we have to get bad news time after time? Why does my baby not get a break?”
Despite the tears, a visit from his idol never fails to make Bradley smile.
Jermain regularly meets the lad and on a recent trip to Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary he was pictured cuddling Bradley, who fell asleep in his arms.
Gemma posted it online and wrote: “He didn’t want him to leave today and fell asleep cuddling into him #specialbond #bestfriends.” Defoe replied: “Love you, little man #bestfriends.”
Jermain said later: “As soon as I walked into the room he jumped up and grabbed me and said, ‘Get in the bed!’
“He got the covers on me and said to his mum, ‘Could you turn the lights off?’ He just wanted a cuddle and to go to sleep. You can imagine the unbelievable feeling. It fills you with tears but you don’t want to show him you were upset.
“I have been blessed in life and it is a great feeling to be able to make someone so happy, a little boy who is having a tough time.”
I just want to get him to his birthday
When the Sunderland striker won his England recall, Bradley’s family were among the first to congratulate him.
They tweeted their son’s delight “to hear his best mate had been called up for the England squad” and told Jermain: “He loves you.”
He replied: “See you there.” Bradley had a blood and platelet transfusion on Friday to give him the energy to make the long trip south to Wembley.
The 78,000-strong crowd’s reception for Bradley when he and Jermain led the players out was so loud he had to cover his ears.
Jermain said after the 2-0 win: “It was very hard for me to keep my emotions in check in the tunnel.
“To lead England out at Wembley was a special moment, but for me to be able to do it with Bradley alongside me was simply amazing and something I’ll never forget.
“You’ve got to try to control your emotions and he turned round and cuddled me — I just tried to keep it together. It was amazing. Everyone knows the relationship we’ve got.”
Bradley’s cancer battle has struck a chord throughout football. He was given Match Of The Day’s goal of the month award after netting in the warm-up to Sunderland’s game against Chelsea in December, and was guest of honour at the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year event.
A Sunderland fan even got a tattoo of arch-rivals Newcastle United on his leg to raise cash for Bradley’s fund.
Everton donated £200,000 to help take the family to their £700,000 target to fly Bradley to the US for specialist treatment. But when doctors there were told the cancer was terminal, they were unable to help.
The money has instead paid for separate treatment — not available on the NHS — at Newcastle’s Great North Children’s Hospital.
His family has also set up a foundation to help others going through the same ordeal. Gemma said: “He has only had a short time on this Earth.
Hopefully he’ll continue but if he doesn’t then he’s leaving a legacy
“Hopefully he’ll continue but if he doesn’t then he’s leaving a legacy and he’s done more in his life than most people have in 90 years.”
There is also the small matter of a birthday party on May 17.
Gemma said: “When I got the news of it being terminal, all I could think about was, ‘I just want to get him to his sixth birthday’. I just want him to achieve that because he’s spoken about it so much.
“Getting him to live until he is six — that’s a big milestone.”