John Stones dedicated England’s dramatic European Championship win over Slovakia to a five-year-old leukaemia sufferer who died during the match.
Dillan Ramsey-Aksehir, from Manchester, passed away about an hour into the game, having been diagnosed with the potentially deadly blood cancer at the age of one.
“Tonight was for Dillan,” Manchester City defender Stones wrote on Instagram. “A special little boy that touched mine and my family’s hearts. He’s an inspiration to us all. Rest in peace little fighter, our thoughts are with his family during this unimaginably difficult time.”
That was after Dillan’s mother, Amy, posted: “Dillan passed away today at 6.15pm, he wasn’t in pain, and was still talking & making us laugh until he took his last breath. You are not in pain anymore Dilly my gorgeous boy.”
Stones had been among those who had responded two years ago to a successful appeal to help find the youngster a bone-marrow transplant, which his mother had said was his only hope of survival.
That included Stones attending a testing event at City’s stadium.
Dillan’s mother had been told upon diagnosis that he had a 93 per cent chance of recovery, only for him to suffer several relapses as his condition worsened. Amy then announced that her son had relapsed last summer and that his chances of recovery were “very small”.
Posting on a GoFundMe page that, as of Monday, had raised more than £650,000 to help fund an “experimental” treatment for him, she wrote: “We have been told to enjoy this time whilst he’s well and there are no further treatments for Dillan.
“I won’t stop fighting for Dillan until he closes his eyes, but for now we want to concentrate on making memories with him that he has missed out on over the last four years.
“We are hoping for a miracle in the meantime.”
Stones’s girlfriend, Olivia Naylor, had been among those to have donated to the fundraiser, giving £20,000 towards its £1 million target.
