England striker Harry Kane sends message to cancer patient Archie, four, after he beats coronavirus

England striker Harry Kane has sent a special video message to four-year-old cancer sufferer Archie Wilks after he overcame coronavirus.

Archie, who caught Covid-19 during treatment for rare childhood cancer neuroblastoma, was sent the uplifting message from the Tottenham Hotspur player on Friday morning.

On ITV’s Good Morning Britain, Kane told Spurs fan Archie: “Hi Archie, great to hear you’re feeling better and on the mend.

“You’re a strong boy. Just keep listening to the doctors, nurses and your parents.

“I hear you and your twin brother Henry love to play football, so keep playing in the garden, stay at home and, yeah, I wish you all the best.”

Archie, who was wearing his treasured Tottenham shirt, appeared delighted with the surprise alongside his parents, Simon and Harriet, and his identical twin brother Henry.

The family, from Saffron Walden, Essex, spoke of their worries when Archie needed oxygen after developing a fever at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge during a course of chemotherapy and immunotherapy.

Archie and father Simon Wilks celebrate being told they can go home from Addenbrooke’s Hospital on April 1. Credit: Family handout/PA

But they paid tribute to the doctors and nurses who “kept on top of it and got him as fit as possible” before he returned home at the start of April.

Archie was diagnosed with neuroblastoma in January 2019 after becoming so ill he could not stand up.

Two tumours were found around his kidney and spine and the disease had spread to other areas, including his bones and bone marrow.

Archie Wilks, four, from Saffron Walden in Essex, with his parents Simon and Harriet. Credit: PA

While Mr Wilks, 31, and his 30-year-old wife care for their twins, others are donating and raising money to enable Archie to take part in a vaccine trial in the US which could reduce the chance of the cancer returning once Archie is in remission.

More than £186,000 has already been raised.

Mr Wilks said 50% of children successfully treated for neuroblastoma will relapse. Of those who relapse, 90% will not survive.

The vaccine trial at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre in New York “will look to reduce the chance of that happening and allow us all to know we have done everything possible to give Archie the best chance at life”, he added.

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