THE devastated parents of a five-year-old boy whose battle with cancer touched the world of football have said he may have only months to live.

Thousands of fans chanted Bradley Lowery's name when he was mascot for his beloved Sunderland in September and Everton, their opponents that night, pledged £200,000 towards an appeal fund to pay for treatment in the US.

The Northern Echo: MASCOT: Bradley Lowery appears as mascot alongside Sunderland captain Jermain Defoe during their match against Everton at the Stadium of Light. Picture: CHRIS BOOTH

Bradley Lowery leads Sunderland out against Everton

Bradley was two when he was diagnosed with neuroblastoma and after treatment he went into remission. But it came back aggressively in July and the treatment he needed is only available in the US.

His mother Gemma and father Karl from Blackhall Colliery, County Durham, updated the thousands of well-wishers who have followed his fight with the devastating news that he has months to live.

His mother said on Facebook: "So as most of you know Bradley's had scans the last few days.

"To cut a long story short I'm devastated to let use know that his cancer has continued to grow.

"We have had a meeting with Bradley's consultant and he has giving us three options but all three options only give us time with Bradley.”

One of the options was to take him home and stop all treatment, which would only give the family two months.

His mother added: "I honestly have no words to how heartbroken I am right now.

"I really don't know how I'm going to make a decision either to take my baby home and have a couple of months with him or put him through more gruelling treatment that could leave him fighting for his life and to have the same outcome."

Later, she said: "We have made a decision.... as a family we have decided to see if the consultant will give Bradley the oral chemo to tide him over till after Xmas.

“Once we have made lots of memories and had an amazing Xmas we are going to give the antibody/chemo combination a go for at least one round.

"If the toxicity is to bad we will stop it. This is not going to cure Bradley but there is a chance it could give him longer than the two months they expecting for him and in my eyes anything is worth a go I can't just give up as I would always be thinking what if???"

Any money left over from the fundraising effort for the The Bradley Lowery Foundation charity will be used to help other children that need to fundraise for treatment or equipment.