Tommy Spurr, former Sheffield Wednesday and Doncaster Rovers defender, fighting to save the life of son Rio

The only give-away that something has not been right over the past year is the short-cropped hair, so close to the scalp that you just know in the pit of your stomach that this smiling little man has been through every parent’s worst nightmare.

For Rio, the son of former Sheffield Wednesday and Doncaster Rovers footballer Tommy Spurr and his wife Chloe, was diagnosed with Wilms’ tumour, a rare form of kidney cancer, last April.

The ensuing 13 months have taken the Spurr family on an unforgiving rollercoaster of emotion, from the depths of despair to the brink of hope.

Through round after round of chemotherapy that prompted the hair loss in their little lad and numerous other painful side-effects, to last week learning their son is…for now…cancer free.

“Since the news last week it’s been a massive weight off our shoulders,” begins Spurr, still only 35 but retired from football for four years after a hip injury forced his hand. Trivial now compared to what awaited him.

“We’ve seen a big change in him since he finished his chemo, the energy levels, putting on weight. Straight away he’s almost like a different child. We are so proud of him anyway, but to see the real character come out, it’s unbelievable.

“A three, four-year-old can’t articulate how they feel so for a year he must have felt rubbish, to put it mildly. So to see him now with these energy levels, it’s unbelievable.

“We’re over the moon…at the moment. I was in complete shock when we found out. Neither of us were sure what we were going to hear on that Monday and to hear that there was nothing there was the best possible outcome.”

To understand how elated Tommy and Chloe feel now, you have to go back to the start.

“He came to us as we were getting in the bath saying he had tummy ache,” recalls Spurr of the night last April when their world started to collapse.

“We felt a little lump inside his tummy, went to the GP and they said it might be constipation.

“A couple of days later he started being violently sick and we were sent to Manchester Hospital. Chloe was told it was a nasty lump that could be cancer.

“It was something and nothing - two days earlier he looked fine, you’d never have known – but it turned our world upside down. To hear the word cancer you ultimately fear the worst.

“Originally they told us it was Wilms tumour, so you Google it because you don’t really know what it is. It’s gotan 80, 90 per cent survival rate after five years, so we were like it’s not great but he’s got a chance.

“But then following his surgery in June we found out it was anaplastic (which means the cells look very disorganised under a microscope) and therefore high risk, and the survival rate plummets to 30-40 per cent. So his chemo was more intense. Ten consecutive days of radiotherapy.

“That was a lot of him, being put to sleep every day, going through that.

“At times he’s looked really, really unwell. It was sickening to see and experience, like you’ve been punched in the stomach for a whole year. Neither myself or Chloe have not slept, until last Monday - we had a good sleep that night.

“It’s just been hell. You’re floating, getting through days. At times your mind goes into some dark places, you try and fight the thoughts in your head of what might happen.”

Families in these awful situations will tell you their fortitude comes from the strength their child showed, and Rio - along with his younger brother Rudy - was no exception.

“Rio and Rudy have helped both me and Chloe through it all,” says Spurr.

“The character and strength he has shown, if he can smile and sing every day, then we can’t be sat there moping around wondering what might happen. We just had to keep hoping and praying.

“Even just having a bath with his little brother he’s had to be careful sitting upright in a shallow bath.

“He’s as good as gold, he’s not complained once about it. He’s understood why he’s needed to do it.

“Everyone is biased towards their own but I do feel he is a very special little boy, to go through everything he’s been through, to be prodded and poked, losing his hair, tubes in his body, dressing changes, blood transfusions, but still be able to make people smile, to be caring and sensitive. We couldn’t be prouder as parents.”

Last week’s news that the cancer is gone is a significant marker, but it is by no means the end of the journey.

In the first instance Rio needs his Hickman line (central venous catheter) removed - “He just wants to go swimming,” smiles his Dad. “Hopefully we’ll get a date soon and we can throw him in a pool and let him have some fun.”

Then he will be scanned every three months for the next two years, and then every six months thereafter, to check if the cancer has come back.

“Because of the high-risk it’s a one in two chance of it coming back,” Spurr acknowledges, solemnly. “And if it does come back his chances of surviving that plummet to 10 per cent.”

Which is why Spurr - whose career also took in spells at Blackburn Rovers, Preston and Fleetwood and led to him living over that way - was back in Sheffield this week.

For the former Owl has arranged a charity match between Wednesday and Sheffield United legends at the Olympic Legacy Park in Attercliffe on Sunday, May 14, 2pm, to raise money for if the cancer does come back.

“He’s had all the treatment he can have for what he’s been diagnosed with, but due to the high risk and the features of his tumour if he was to relapse there is no available option for Rio to have any more treatment over here, hence the reason why we’re still pushing with fundraising,” says Spurr.

“We as parents are not going to sit here and do nothing, we’re in contact with a few families with an identical diagnosis. They didn’t have the funds available to explore trials elsewhere, we don’t want to be in that position. It’s not us being negative, we feel like we are being pro-active.”

That treatment would have to be abroad and would cost in the hundreds of thousands. The Spurrs have chronicled parts of Rio’s story on social media - “I’m not worried about using it for this reason because he’s my son and why wouldn’t you?” he asks rhetorically - and his platform as a former footballer, with old team-mates and managers, not to mention fanbases, a community to call on for help.

“I know enough of the Wednesday lads and United lads to get two decent teams together,” says Spurr as he watches Rio kick a ball into the net on the 3G pitch Wednesday and United veterans will grace on Sunday week.

“Lads enjoy coming together, and for a good cause, a four-year-old little boy, it was a no-brainer.

“All the lads I’ve spoken to are doing a bit of training for it - Marcus Tudgay has even stopped drinking for two weeks!

“Chris Brunt is in good shape, Richard Wood and Glenn Whelan are still playing.”

The managers will be Ron Atkinson for Wednesday, Neil Warnock for United.

“Neil actually phoned me when I was in hospital with Rio,” recalls Spurr. “I didn’t recognise the number, I couldn’t believe he’d phoned us. He said he’d love to be involved and couldn’t wait to support us. For people to give up their time is amazing.

“I appreciate times are hard but if people do have a spare money to come and buy a ticket it would mean the world to us. Every single person that comes is helping Rio hopefully be prepared giving him a bit more of a chance.

“You say thank you a lot but you feel like you’re not doing enough because it means that much to us that thank you isn’t enough. Because it’s for our little boy, thank you is never enough.”

Spurr has fond memories of his football career, and while nothing he experienced on the pitch could quite prepare him for the challenges life has thrown at him, at least the game is giving his family the chance to have more happy days together.

“We’re lucky he’s got through the first bit,” says Spurr, “and while we know it’s only the first bit, we’ve had a year where we’ve feared the worst, so now with good news, we have to enjoy it. To just let him be a normal kid and do what other four-year-olds do will be amazing.”

Tickets can be purchased here or by attending on the day.