Stephen Bradley reacts to son Josh's all-clear after three-year leukaemia battle

Irish Daily Mirror

2 days ago

Stephen Bradley has described the joy his family felt when son Josh (11) got to ring the bell at Crumlin Hospital on Tuesday evening, signalling the end of his three-year battle with leukaemia.
The Shamrock Rovers boss and his family got the good news last week, when they were told after his latest chemo session that it would be his last.
He said the last few weeks were filled with anxiety as they wait until the all-clear came - and Josh was back in hospital on Tuesday to say goodbye to staff and perform the symbolic ringing of the bell.
'When we got the news, when Josh was diagnosed, we made the decision to go public,' Bradley said, speaking at Dublin Airport ahead of Rovers' departure to the Azores for their Europa Conference League play-off first-leg against Santa Clara.
'There were a number of reasons, we felt that we could help be a voice for families in Crumlin that haven't got a voice, and we could help them in a small way.
'We also felt that the fans and the club obviously deserved to know what was going on, and for me the players most certainly deserved to know what was happening.
'We knew when we decided to make it public, it was something that regardless of what was going to happen on the journey, it was going to be out there for everyone to see, and that was something we were okay with.
'Looking back now, the support that we received from people from everywhere really, from up and down the country, that's been absolutely incredible.
'And for Josh to, throughout the years, especially when it was tough, when we were going through the really tough times, for Josh to be able to see emails, letters, text messages from people up and down the country and to see the smile on his face, I can't describe what that feeling is.
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'It gave him a moment of forgetting about the journey that he was on, and any parent will tell you when they're in that, and the tough times are really tough and difficult and they're seeing their kids sick, it's the hardest part of being a parent because our job is to try and protect our kids as best as possible.
'So to be able to give them the moment of relief and happiness, it's something genuinely that we will be forever grateful for, to people up and down the country. The support, it's been incredible.
'Just coming down the stairs there (in the airport), two men stopped me, working the airport, Bohs fans, 'Congratulations, we're so happy for you and your family', that sort of stuff, and that happens on a daily basis, a regular basis.
'It's been incredible, so it's those moments that Josh got a bit of relief made it all worthwhile for us to go public, because he got moments of joy when there was real pain and hurt.' Stephen Bradley (Image: INPHO/James Lawlor)
As for the process of getting the all-clear, Bradley said: 'He got his last chemotherapy last week, and then they tell you then that he's free to ring the bell, which is, again special, because ringing the bell signals the end of your treatment.
'He doesn't have to get chemotherapy anymore, so to get that news last week was the best news we've had in three and a half years.
'Yesterday, we went in as a family, and all the nurses and all the nurses and doctors that looked after him for the last three and a half years were there, because they're incredible."
Asked how Josh had processed the news that his three-year ordeal was at an end, Bradley said: 'He's been really, really excited, really hyper, because he got the news that he was allowed to ring the bell, and that's the end of it
'So he's been really hyper, and, like I said, excited, looking forward to it, but then yesterday came the emotion of the realisation that he's done, and he rang the bell, and he was really, really emotional, which is to be expected.
'He's very like me, in terms of, he's a deep thinker. He's been holding a lot inside and I think we've seen a lot of that coming up yesterday.
'Then, yesterday evening he was able to go and meet his friends and play a game (with his team Kill Celtic), a friendly, and then after the game, he's hyper again, because he's just telling us all his friends, the referee, the coaches made a big thing of him.
'There were all different ranges of emotions yesterday, but he's been really hyper, really emotional, and then last night he was just hyper again.
'We understand how lucky we are as a family to be given that opportunity yesterday.'
Bradley recalled another European trip to Bulgaria to face Ludogorets - three years ago - shortly after Josh's diagnosis.
'One of the lowest points I've ever had was being away, maybe a week after he got diagnosed,' he recalled. 'I didn't feel right at that moment in time, didn't feel like I should have been where I was.
'Now, you have the other extreme where we rang the bell yesterday, and we're going away in the playoff game, to possibly get through to the group stages, it doesn't get much better than that.'