Bradley Lowery, the football mascot whose beaming smile touched thousands of people around the world, has died after a battle with a rare cancer, his family said.
The six-year-old Sunderland fan struck up a close friendship with star striker Jermain Defoe after he was diagnosed with neuroblastoma.
In a statement on the family's Facebook page, Bradley's mother Gemma Lowery said: "My brave boy has went with the angels today 07/07/17 at 13:35, in mammy and daddies arms surrounded by his family.
"He was our little superhero and put the biggest fight up but he was needed else where.