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.'
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.
John Stones
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