On Sunday, England won the ripple in a thrilling fashion to make it to the last eight in Europe, but there was a sad story behind the happiness. A five-year-old fan with blood cancer, Dylan, died during the Three Lions game. England star Stones said after the game that he would have won for the little fighter.
Dylan was diagnosed with leukemia when he was one year old. He played 16 matches in England against Slovakia last night. He sadly passed away 15 minutes into the first half of the game. His mother Amy took to the social media platform, Ramsey to announce the death, "Dylan passed away at 6:15pm." Amy wrote: 'He wasn't in pain until he took his last breath, he was still talking and making us laugh. No more pain for you, Dylan, my beautiful boy!"
After the game, Stones learned of the sad news and paid tribute to Dylan and said that he touched every player's heart, City later said, "This day belongs to Dylan, this special little boy touched my heart and my family's heart, he was an inspiration to all of us". Stones also wished the little fighter would find joy in his heavenly home, "Rest in peace, little fighter! Our hearts are with his family during this unimaginably difficult time."
Lovely Dylan, a Manchester City fan, was first diagnosed in 2020. At the time, he was told he was given a 93% chance of survival, but then the Manchester boy underwent three years of chemotherapy, which made his and his family's life a living hell. Initially, they thought they could beat the cancer, but they relapsed in August 2022 and then in March and August 2023.
When she didn't find out she had leukemia, her mother, Amy, initially thought she loved soccer, so she kicked waves of sprains and bruises. Later, in December 2022, she underwent a bone transplant. Manchester City had a test match in which the Stones also took part to raise money for Dylan's medical expenses, and her girlfriend Olivia Naylor donated £20,000 to Dylan Power's cancer-fighting magic, but sadly it came back and it was very difficult to find reputable doctors in the UK. One was flown to Washington, D.C. in the U.S. for further treatment, but unfortunately it was ultimately unable to fight the cancer.
