Owls captain Barry Bannan donates £1,000 to help “superstar” Teddy Kelly, 6, as brave boy fights cancer
“It was heart-wrenching. Gut-wrenching. I can't put it into words.”
The parents of a “superstar” six-year-old boy have received over £50,000 in donations, including £1,000 from Sheffield Wednesday captain Barry Bannan, after they got the news that his cancer had spread.
Teddy Kelly, from Kimberworth, Rotherham, was diagnosed with high-risk neuroblastoma in October last year.
He has recently taken a turn for the worse, despite previously responding well to treatment.
His dad, Richard Kelly, said: “He is very weak on his legs at the minute. I am hoping there is some change in the next round of treatment. He is so run down, it is hard.
“When we took him to hospital, the consultant knew what it was straight away. It was heart-wrenching. Gut-wrenching. I can't put it into words.”
Between the fifth and sixth round of chemotherapy, which Teddy received as part of a clinical trial, parents Richard and Katie received devastating news.
“We went in last week (March 27), and were told it had spread, and had gone back to how it was before,” said Richard.
“It is all over [his body], primarily in his kidneys and behind his heart.”
A GoFundMe page set up just five days ago has reached £53,480 in donations, which Richard and Katie have set up as a ‘safety net’ in case they have to seek treatment outside of the UK.
Richard said: “The amazing thing about the NHS is that you don't have to pay, but there are some options they don’t have, which they do in other countries.
“But the prices - they are just wild. I don't know how they can be that expensive, like £200,000 to £250,000, plus.
“We have got all faith in Sheffield Children’s, and we are praying that we don’t have to use any of the money.
“The doctors are amazing at Sheffield Children’s. They worked really quickly to find out exactly what it was, and he was diagnosed within days.
“But, the thought on my mind is we get to the end of this treatment, and they say there is nothing else they can do, and we have to scramble.
“We just cannot leave ourselves in a position where we have not explored every single option. I don't want to be laying in my bed one night when this is all over, thinking, ‘maybe you could have done this’.”
Sheffield Wednesday captain and Children’s Hospital ambassador Barry Bannan has donated £1,000 to Teddy’s GoFundMe.
Richard said: “Teddy actually isn’t much of a football fan, but I think he will be after this!
“He is a superstar. He is amazing, fantastic, the most lovely kind boy on earth.
“It is horrific, what has happened. But he is the same Teddy, still really happy, but instead of sitting on his bike, he sits on his iPad at the minute.
“He loves being outside and on his bike - he loves his motorcross bike - so it has been heartbreaking to stop him doing that for the last six months or so.
“Everyone has been so supportive. It is pretty overwhelming, we didn’t expect this response.”
A charity football match between Kimberworth teams The Colin FC and RUFC 85 The Travellers is taking place this Sunday (April 7) at Ferham Park.
Charlie Robinson, aged 27, The Colin manager, said: “ I saw a Facebook post from Teddy’s mum last week saying how he had taken a bad turn.
“We just thought, let’s do something sooner rather than later, before we can’t do anything.”
After raising £350 from players, the teams and supporters will head to the pub and raffle off donated prizes.
These include two tickets to a Sheffield Wednesday game, two signed Rotherham shirts, a copy of Wednesday writer Alex Miller’s book ‘Is There Time For a Winner?’, and various vouchers for local shops and restaurants.