Tommy Spurr: Former Blackburn defender on his three-year-old's rare cancer diagnosis

Former Blackburn defender Tommy Spurr's three-year-old son Rio was diagnosed with cancer in April

"Everything just started happening so quickly. It's hard enough to get your head around hearing the word you don't want to hear. It's still quite hard to say cancer."

After his playing career came to an end in 2019, former Sheffield Wednesday and Blackburn left-back Tommy Spurr moved into teaching.

Having had two boys with his wife Chloe, Spurr settled into life away from professional football.

But the 34-year-old received the devastating news earlier this year that their three-year-old son Rio had been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer.

Around the Easter weekend Rio became ill, and after initially seeing his GP his condition worsened so Tommy and Chloe took him to A&E.

"He was complaining of a little bit of tummy ache and pointing to his side. We made a doctor's appointment for the next day. They said it could be constipation or maybe a reaction to his pre-school jabs," Tommy told BBC Radio Lancashire.

"But it was nothing too concerning, which didn't surprise us because he'd been absolutely fine prior to that. There were no signs that he was poorly. That was on the Monday and on the Friday night he started being quite violently sick and that carried on into the Saturday."

After noticing hard swelling on his side, a trip to hospital in Blackburn and an X-ray followed.

"They thought that he might have an obstruction in his bowel or a twisted bowel, which may require surgery. So they transferred us to Royal Manchester Children's Hospital," Tommy said.

Chloe travelled in the ambulance with Rio to Manchester. After their arrival, there was a change in Rio's diagnosis.

Chloe continued: "Two surgeons came to speak to me. One of them told me that it wasn't what had been suggested at Blackburn and that it wasn't an obstruction in his bowel and he wasn't going to need surgery that night as we thought.

"I was relieved but then I could tell by the look on their faces that there was something more and that I shouldn't be relieved. They said 'We are quite certain that it is a nasty lump'. I said, 'Do you mean cancer?' and they said yeah."

Tommy drove down to Manchester as the severity of Rio's condition set in.

"I was worried about him driving to Manchester because it was awful," Chloe said. "Your whole world just completely shattered and changed in that one conversation."

Rio's treatment begins

A biospy was booked. Chemotherapy scheduled. Then came the news that Rio had been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer.

Wilms tumour is a type of kidney cancer that mostly affects young children. Around 80 children a year are diagnosed with it in the UK.

However, once Rio's treatment had started, it was discovered that the cancer had spread to his lungs. In addition, he underwent a four-hour operation to remove the tumour and his right kidney.

"With the Wilms tumour, if it's not spread anywhere else, it's four weeks of chemo and then an operation. Whereas Rio had lung metastasis in each lung which meant his chemotherapy had already been extended to six weeks," Tommy continued.

"But since the surgery and what they found means that his chemotherapy has intensified a lot more.

"When we do go, we're there for four days. And the side effects are obviously a lot greater with the more intense chemotherapy mixed with radiotherapy along the way."

Tommy Spurr made 362 league appearances for clubs including Sheffield Wednesday and Blackburn

Tommy and Chloe had to carefully broach the subject of his illness to Rio.

"We decided quite early on that although he doesn't know the full extent of what's wrong with him, we decided to be quite honest with him and say 'you're going to have a little break from nursery because you're going to have a bit of medicine to try and help with the with the lump in your tummy'," Tommy said.

"He knows what we're saying so we're going to have to be as honest as you can with a three-year-old and explain to him that he's going to spend a little bit of time in hospital and try and make him better."

Chloe continued: "He asked one day as I was changing Rudy's nappy, 'Does Rudy have a lump in his tummy too?' And we'd actually not used the word 'lump' at this point. That's when we realised that he understood maybe a bit more. And then we told him maybe slightly more than we already had."

A well liked little boy

Adapting to chemotherapy and life with cancer can be hard for people of any age, but it is particularly hard for a three-year-old who is used to playing with his friends at nursery.

"He does miss nursery. Recently, that's been quite hard. He's asked a lot of questions. Our consultant is really tall and he said 'When is the big doctor going to say that I'm allowed to go back to nursery?'" Chloe said.

"Nursery is only down the road and we do often walk past and sometimes we'll say hello to his friends over the fence. I think that's quite overwhelming for him, but he likes it. They all come out cheering his name. He's well liked."

Tommy added: "Going to play centres and crowded places with lots of children, he loves. But unfortunately those are the sort of places that could end up sending us back to hospital with an infection.

"As soon as he gets a temperature, you have to take him into hospital and it's an automatic 48-hour stay. Obviously, it's trying to find that balance in that we don't want to lock him away when he does feel good, because you want him to still enjoy himself."

Balancing everything

Rio has undergone several spells of chemotherapy after being diagnosed with a tumour on his kidney in April

Rio's treatment has also had an impact on Chloe and Tommy's professional lives as they try to balance that with caring for their son.

"I love my job and I've really struggled with that," Chloe added.

"I did keep working up until only recently. But it became impossible, really, because we don't know what to expect with Rio, in and out of hospital.

"It wasn't feasible for me to commit to seeing clients and then having to let them down."

Tommy, who works an hour away from the family home, also had to step away from his job due to the impact of the situation.

"At the drop of a hat we could have to go into hospital and if I'm stuck in traffic over an hour away, it's going to be difficult to then get back.

"We have got an 18-month old boy, Rudy, as well. He needs us as much as Rio does. It's just bad timing, really. I can't commit to being there because I don't know where we are going to be with Rio and Rio's a priority."

Since Rio's diagnosis, some of Tommy's colleagues at Priestley College started a crowdfunding page to help the family which has since raised nearly £30,000.

"I was probably a bit uncomfortable with it at first because of pride and perhaps what people might think in our perception of footballers," Tommy said.

"It's a situation that we're in and people have been kind enough to help us and I don't see anything wrong with accepting that help rather than struggling and making life harder for us."

The chances of Rio's cancer returning are quite high, and the money raised could help the family pursue further treatment.

"People have been so kind, so generous. I think we're still finding it quite overwhelming," Chloe said.

"We had a conversation with our consultant after the fundraising had started. He said if we were able to raise a significant amount of money, that might come in really useful.

"If Rio's cancer was to come back, our options might be quite limited in this country, and we might need to look at possible treatment abroad that isn't available on the NHS."

Tommy continued: "We feel like we're doing something for him and it's going to help him. We're not doctors, or consultants or surgeons, but it's something to give him that opportunity. I couldn't bear the thought of not giving him every single chance of being all right."

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