BRADLEY IS VIP AT EVERTON
Battling Bradley Lowery took centre stage before a live televised Premier League game.
The five-year-old, from Blackhall, who is terminally ill with neuroblastoma – a rare form of cancer – was invited by Everton to be their mascot for the game v Manchester City.
The Merseyside club had already donated £200,000 to the fund to help pay for his treatment, which starts today.
The youngster was carried on to the pitch by Toffees striker Romelu Lukaku before the match at Goodison Park, which was screened live by Sky Sports.
He wore his Sunderland strip, with “Thank you Everton” on the back, to walk out in.
He posed for pictures with Everton captain Gareth Barry, Manchester City skipper Pablo Zabaleta and the City mascot.
At half-time he reappeared on the pitch, changed into an Everton strip bearing the slogan “cancer has no colours”.
Mum Gemma said: “I would like to say a huge ‘thank you’ to Everton for showing us immense kindness.
“They have really went above and beyond to make our life easier, not only with donating the money, but also making contact with America and keeping in touch to see if there was anything else they could do.
“It is an honour to have Bradley at their ground so he can thank everyone in person. The fans have also been amazing.
“I could not ask for anymore from both Everton and Sunderland.
“No words will ever be good enough to thank both the teams, in fact the whole football community have been amazing.”
Former SAFC manager and Everton legend Peter Reid tweeted after the match: “You gotta come to Goodison every game Brad.”
Bradley will today begin pioneering antibody treatment, which could prolong his life.
He was initially diagnosed with the illness four years ago, and fought off the cancer before it returned last year.
The story of Bradley’s battle with neuroblastoma has touched the hearts of people around the world and following the news his cancer was terminal, the Sunderland fan was invited to the Stadium of Light to be mascot for the Black Cats’ game against Chelsea.
He scored a penalty past Chelsea goalkeeper Asmir Begovic in the warm-up and it even won the BBC Match of the Day Goal of the Month.
“The whole football community have been amazing” GEMMA LOWERY