Jermain Defoe visit delights cancer patient Bradley Lowery

Special visit

Several members of Sunderland’s first team squad paid a visit to hospital yesterday to cheer up five-year-old fan Bradley Lowery who is critically ill with a rare cancer condition. Sebastian Larsson, John O’Shea, Vito Mannone and Jermain Defoe spent time with Bradley – the latter featuring in a touching photo posted on the young boy’s Twitter account with the message: ‘Bradley loves Jermain Defoe. He didn't want him to leave today and fell asleep cuddling into him #specialbond #bestfriends’.

Defoe replied with a tweet of his own: ‘Love you little man. #bestfriends’.