England star John Stones has dedicated last night’s Three Lions victory to five-year-old Dillan Ramsey-Aksehir who has passed away after a battle with leukemia.
Dillan, who was diagnosed at the age of one, sadly died during England’s Round of 16 match against Slovakia last night, just 15 minutes into the game’s first half.
Sharing the news with social media, his mother Amy Ramsey said: ‘Dillan passed away today at 6.15pm.
‘He wasn’t in pain, and was still talking and making us laugh until he took his last breath. You are not in pain anymore Dilly my gorgeous boy’.
Following the match, England defender Stones paid tribute to the little boy, saying he ‘touched’ the hearts of the footballer and his family.
The Manchester City star said: ‘Tonight was for Dillan. 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.’
England Defender John Stones took to social media to pay tribute to the ‘special’ little boy who passed away yesterday
Sharing the news with social media, his heartbroken mother Amy Ramsey said: ‘Dillan passed away today at 6.15pm. He wasn’t in pain, and was still talking and making us laugh until he took his last breath. You are not in pain anymore Dilly my gorgeous boy’. Dillan (pictured) with his parents
John Stones (pictured) previously supported a campaign to find Dillan a bone marrow match by attending a testing event at Manchester City’s Ethiad Stadium
Dillan, who was a Man City fan, was diagnosed during the first coronavirus lockdown in May 2020. He was told at the time he had a 93 per cent chance of survival.
The little boy, from Manchester, was forced to go through three years of intense chemotherapy that made life ‘hell’ for him and his family.
They initially thought he had beaten the illness, but he relapsed in August 2022 and then again in March and August 2023.
Before the shocking ordeal, mother-of-three Amy, thought her happy football-loving son had a sprain and bruises from kicking a ball around before a diagnosis revealed the truth.
Dillan underwent a bone marrow transplant in December 2022 after a campaign to find a match was successful.
A testing event was held at Manchester City’s Ethiad Stadium and was attended by Stones. His girlfriend Olivia Naylor also donated £20,000 to Dillan’s fundraiser for a last clinical trial to beat his cancer.
But sadly Dillan relapsed again and doctors in the UK had run out of options.
The family flew to Washington in the US for further treatment.
Dillan Ramsey-Aksehir (pictured) passed away last night after a four-year long battle with leukemia
The family (pictured) previously flew to the US after running out of treatment options for Dillan in the UK
Issuing an update on a GoFundMe page back in February this year, mother Amy said the family were in ‘complete shock’ after bone marrow results showed cancer.
She wrote at the time: ‘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 4 years.’
Before the youngster was diagnosed Amy noticed he started waking up in the middle of the night screaming as if he was in pain.
Issuing an update on a GoFundMe page back in February this year, mother Amy said the family were in ‘complete shock’ after bone marrow results showed cancer
Dillan was diagnosed during the first coronavirus lockdown in May 2020. He was told at the time he had a 93 per cent chance of survival. Dillan (pictured) with his mother Amy
Dillan (pictured) was diagnosed with cancer at just a year old during the Covid lockdown
‘I took him to the doctors, they checked him over and put it down to nightmares or sleep regression. They just couldn’t find anything wrong with him,’ Amy previously told MailOnline.
‘A week later he started to limp and he had bruising on his legs. He’s quite boisterous and loves football so we just assumed he kicked something by mistake.’
She took Dillan back to the doctor who told her ‘it looks like a sprain and because of his age will heal in a week or two’.
A few days later, Amy’s partner Oguz Aksehir noticed Dillan had ‘really swollen lymph nodes on his neck and jaw’.
‘I booked him in with the doctor again but it was a 48-hour wait to get him seen because at that time Covid was still quite new and everyone was being super cautious,’ Amy said.
It was during that waiting period that Dillan started to get tiny bruises around his eyes.
When the family finally saw a doctor, they were in the room for two minutes and the physician took one look a Dillan and knew exactly what was wrong.
‘We were given two referral letters to go to A&E – one for his leg and one for his lymph nodes and facial bruising,’ Amy said.