Bradley Lowery fighting back as mum reveals brave tot is feeling better ‘and walking again’ after cancer agony forced him to cancel Sunderland mascot duties
THE family of a brave child battling cancer have revealed that he is fighting back after he was admitted to hospital and forced to cancel mascot duties for his beloved Sunderland.
Bradley Lowery's mum Gemma posted on social media that the youngster, who suffers from neuroblastoma now "seems a lot better" and is "walking again".
Bradley, aged five from Blackhall Colliery near Hartlepool, is a massive fan of the Black Cats but was forced to miss being a mascot in their clash with Middlesborough at the Riverside Stadium on Wednesday night after the hospital admission.
Doctors feared the five-year-old's cancer was progressing as his mum revealed he was in "horrendous pain due to his leg".
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Speaking yesterday on his Facebook , mum Gemma said that her son is now in a better condition after the scare this week.
She wrote: "Bradley seems a lot better today - he has managed to walk about with a struggle.
"We (are) not sure if this is (because) off his increased medication or if his leg is starting to feel better.
"We (are) at London with him on Monday to get his T cells removed ready for them to be modified into killer cells. Thank you everyone for your concern."
Since his terminal diagnosis last year, Sunderland and the club have rallied around him.
He has been lead out onto the pitch several times whilst clutching the hand of his hero Jermain Defoe – the team’s striker who has netted 14 Premier League goals - including at Wembley when England beat Lithuania.
He was due to be a mascot at the Riverside game on Wednesday but his family have been forced to cancel his appearance.
Bradley’s story touched the hearts of the nation after he was diagnosed with neuroblastoma in January 2013 when he was aged just two.
A rare tumour was found above his left kidney and he was given a 50-50 chance of survival.
Battling Brad managed to defeat the illness but tragically relapsed after some time in remission in July 2016.
In a crushing blow his family later found his diagnosis was terminal and declared the news in a blog post earlier this year.
A message on Bradley’s campaign page included: "As you can imagine we are devastated and heartbroken with this news as I really wanted the new treatment to work.
"Why is life so cruel? Why do we have to get bad news time after time?
"Why does my baby not get a break?"
Neuroblastoma is a type of cancer that most commonly afflicts babies and young children.
The disease develops from special nerve cells, known as neuroblasts, which get left behind from the child's development in the womb.
It mostly begins in the sufferer's adrenal glands located above the kidneys but can occur in the nerve tissue that runs along the spinal cord in the neck, chest, abdomen or pelvis.
The vicious illness can then spread to other organs like the bone, bone marrow, lymph nodes and skin.
Neuroblastoma afflicts around 100 children a year in the UK but the cause of the disease is still not known.
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