GUARDIAN ANGEL
Heartbreaking photos of beaming boy who died of cancer – but held on long enough to meet his baby sister
Nine-year-old Bailey Cooper told his family that he was ready to pass away in order to protect newborn Millie
A BRAVE nine-year-old was snapped wearing a proud grin as he cuddled his baby sister for the last time before he tragically passed away.
On his deathbed, little Bailey Cooper said that he wanted to stay but told his devastated family, "it's my time to go, to become her guardian angel."
9
9
Bailey was given just "days or weeks" to live after cancer ravaged his body - but he defied the odds to meet and name his little sister, Millie.
Watched over by his heartbroken parents, Lee and Rachel, Bailey lost his battle with cancer at noon on Christmas Eve.
Bailey had spent 15 months trying to fight off Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, going through rounds and rounds of treatment.
Back in 2016, Baily started to feel unwell and was admitted to hospital, near the family's home in Bristol, with what doctors thought at first was a viral chest infection.
9
When things didn't improve, however, he was given antibiotics which made matters worse.
He then started to get severe stomach pains and after having a blood test, was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma - a rare cancer which develops in the network of vessels and glands in the body.
By the time the cancer was discovered, it was already at stage three.
Dad Lee told the : “We didn’t know anything then. When we brought him into hospital before, we thought he would be okay, and we started doubting ourselves for a bit.
9
9
"But the pains got worse and worse, and the oncology doctors told us he had to go into treatment.”
After an immediate round of chemo and dose of steroid medication, Bailey went into remission.
Doctors said that there were no more signs of cancer and the little boy went back to school - just returning to hospital for three-monthly checkups.
At Easter, the family went off to a holiday park in Devon for Bailey's first trip - courtesy of Bristol charity
Symptoms of non-Hodgkin lymphoma
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma is a cancer that attacks the sufferer's lymphatic system.
It starts in the white blood cells, which are part of the body's immune system.
More than 12,000 people in the UK are diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma each year.
It can occur at any age but statistically more men than women develop the condition, and the chances of it occurring increase as you get older - it's pretty rare in small children.
Symptoms include:
Signs and symptoms of the disease may include;
- Abdominal pain or swelling
- Swollen lymph nodes in the neck, armpits or groin
- Chest pain, breathing difficulties or coughing
- Persistent fatigue
- Fevers or night sweats
- Unexplained weight loss
He had just done his first MRI and the doctors were confident.
But on the second day of the holiday, they received the devasting news that Bailey's cancer was back.
Lee said: “On the second day, we were in Paignton Zoo when we had a phone call from the hospital that he had relapsed and they needed him back in. Bailey showed signs that he was breathless and tired.”
“He went into chemo again," Lee said.
"The doctors threw the book at it, and told us even if he survived it, the long term effects will last for the rest of his life. He had a stem cell transplant.
9
“We had to try everything we could.”
Again, Bailey fought back hard and went back into remission at the end of July.
Just six weeks later, the cancer reared its ugly head again - and this time, there was nothing to be done.
Lee said: “Rachel took him into hospital, and they said to get me in.
"I got out of work and came immediately. I was thinking about what the doctors had said before when they said if the cancer came back, there was nothing else they could do.
"She [the consultant] broke the news to us. It was late stage four, and it was even worse. It was very aggressive.”
The cancer spread quickly, manifesting itself in lumps on Bailey's chest, lungs, liver and stomach.
9
Lee and Rachel were told that Bailey had only days or weeks to live and they relayed the news to Bailey as soon as possible.
"We stayed there with him, and in a couple of hours, he took it all in. He gave us a smile and said ‘let’s go home.’
"He wanted to process it and needed reassurances what was going to happen after he died.”
Knowing that he was going to pass away, Baily started to make plans for this own funeral - wanting everyone to dress up in superhero costumes.
He was put on medfication to soothe the pain but he became gradually weaker and weaker.
“We didn’t think he would last that long, but he was determined to meet Millie. It got to the end of November, and Millie was born. He hugged her and did everything an older brother would do – change her, wash her, sing to her,” Rachel said.
9
9
“But week by week, he got dramatically worse. He would be down and sleeping on the sofa a lot, and sometimes in bed unresponsive. It was difficult.
“He knew he was not going to be here for Christmas, but we tried to get him to put together a Christmas list.
"He said he didn’t want to, but we encouraged him to.”
The list Bailey put together was of toys that he knew his brother Riley wanted and would play with after his death.
Holding on just long enough to meet his new baby sister, Lee said that the moment he met her, he "began to taper off quickly".
By 11.45am on Christmas Eve, the whole family were gathered around his bedside reading him stories and listening to his favourite music.
When his grandma said that she wished she could take Bailey's place, Bailey told her that she was being "really selfish" because she had grandchildren to take care of.
MORE ON CANCER
"We knew it was not going to be long. We told him ‘It’s time to go Bailey. Stop.’," Rachel recalled.
“The moment we said ‘stop’, he took his last breath and had just the one tear come out of his eye. It was peaceful.”
Last Saturday, hundreds dressed in colourful superhero costumes lined the streets of Westerleigh Crematorium to say goodbye to an amazing little boy.
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at [email protected] or call 0207 782 4368. You can WhatsApp us on 07810 791 502. We pay for videos too. Click here to upload yours
Topics