Boy, 4, battling cancer nets message from hero Harry Kane after beating coronavirus

A FOOTBALL-mad four-year-old battling cancer has netted a  message from Harry Kane after beating coronavirus.

Little Archie Wilks caught the killer infection during treatment for the rare childhood cancer called neuroblastoma.

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Little Archie Wilkes, who is battling cancer, received a message from his hero Harry Kane after beating coronavirusCredit: PA:Press Association

But England skipper and Tottenham ace Kane has congratulated the buzzing youngster on his Covid-19 recovery.

The 26-year-old striker told the Spurs fan in a recorded message played on ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “Hi, Archie. Great to hear you’re feeling better and on the mend.

“You’re a strong boy. Just keep listening to the doctors, nurses and your parents.

“I hear you and your twin brother Henry love to play football, so keep playing in the garden, stay at home and, yeah, I wish you all the best.”

England skipper and Tottenham ace Kane sent a video congratulating Archie on his Covid-19 recovery

Archie, wearing his treasured Spurs shirt, sat alongside parents Simon, 31, and Harriet, 30, plus Henry during a live video link to the programme.

And he beamed with delight as Kane’s message was shown.

The family, from Saffron Walden, Essex, told how they feared for Archie when he needed oxygen after developing a fever in hospital during chemotherapy and immunotherapy.

But they paid tribute to the doctors and nurses at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge who “kept on top of it and got him as fit as possible”.

The lad was able to return home at the start of April.

Archie Wilkes, with parents Simon and twin Henry, on ITV

Archie was diagnosed with neuroblastoma in January last year after becoming so ill he could not stand up.

Two tumours were found around his kidney and spine — and the disease had spread to other areas, including his bones and bone marrow.

An appeal to enable Archie to take part in a vaccine trial in the US, which could reduce the chance of the cancer returning once he is in remission, has already raised more than £186,000.

Dad Simon said 50 per cent of children successfully treated for neuroblastoma will relapse. Of those who do, 90 per cent will not survive.

But he explained that the vaccine treatment at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York “will look to reduce the chance of that happening and it will allow us all to know we have done everything possible to give our Archie the best chance at life”.

Meanwhile, the family of three-year-old cancer patient Brodie Halliday were able to join him to mark the end of his radiotherapy — despite the coronavirus restrictions.

The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre, in the Wirral on Merseyside, made it possible by moving its bell used to mark the completion of treatment.

Brodie, from Fountainhall in the Scottish Borders, went through 35 rounds of radiotherapy after he was diagnosed with a brain tumour last July.

But  restrictions allow just one visitor at the hospital per patient.

The family, from Saffron Walden, Essex, told how they feared for Archie when he needed oxygen after developing a fever in hospital during chemotherapyCredit: PA:Press Association

That meant his father Jamie, 42, and seven-year-old sister Indiana thought they might not be with him to share in the treatment milestone.

But staff unscrewed the bell and set it up outside the hospital, meaning they were able to join Brodie, his mum Kirstie, 35, plus his medical team and fellow patients to celebrate.

Mrs Halliday said: “They have gone above and beyond for Brodie, we are really grateful.”

Paediatric radiographer Sarah Stead said: “We weren’t going to let the coronavirus ruin Brodie’s big moment to ring the bell in front of his family.

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“The team and I made sure Brodie could safely have his celebratory moment. He had quite a socially distant crowd.”

Yesterday, Agnes House care facility at Wyggeston’s Hospital in Leicester issued a plea for cards to help celebrate the 107th birthday of resident Margaret Ellmore. The centenarian’s party, due on May 1, has had to be cancelled because of coronavirus.

Staff hope to be able to reach 107 birthday wishes for Margaret, a great-grandmother of nine and a grandmother of four.

Harry told the Spurs fan in a recorded message: ‘Hi, Archie. Great to hear you’re feeling better and on the mend’Credit: PA:Press Association

Nick Phillips, chief executive of The Almshouse Association, said: “Margaret is an inspiration, who will celebrate her birthday with great humour despite plans being much reduced.

“She also shows that in almshouses round the country, great little communities exist where people look out for each other.

The Almshouse Association represents more than 1,600 charities around Britain with 35,000 residents.

Archie was diagnosed with neuroblastoma in January last year after becoming so ill he could not stand upCredit: PA:Press Association

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