Jack Grealish sends Nottingham seven-year-old with cancer 'get well soon' message
A Nottingham seven-year-old battling cancer was overjoyed when she received a personal video message from footballer Jack Grealish.
The Manchester City star, who is from Solihull, sent the message to Leila Hallam, from Cotgrave.
The schoolgirl is fighting rhabdomyosarcoma, an extremely rare type of cancer.
In an interview with ITV News Central, her parents Matthew and Kirsty Hallam said she was over the moon when she received the football ace's message
Mr Hallam said: "So she received it from Wish Upon A Star, it's a great charity and Leila was a massive fan of Grealish during the Euros.
"Jack sent the message through and I don't know who was happier - my wife or Leila. But no, she was over the moon"
Mrs Hallam added: "It was amazing yeah - we loved it didn't we"
Leila's family are currently raising awareness for rhabdomyosarcoma and all of the side affects that come with the condition.
Mrs Hallam said: "Hers is alveolar type, there's different types, hers is more pelvis based, she carries a fusion gene as well which obviously makes it a little bit worse as well."
She added that is is extremely hard to find where the tumour actually comes from in the type of cancer Leila has, which had affected the little girl's case too.
The family are currently trying to raise as much awareness for the condition as possible, for example this Saturday at Notts County Saturday's match against Eastleigh.
Meanwhile, her father is also planning on doing the three peaks challenge with 10 of his friends to help fundraise money to help Leila.
What is rhabdomyosarcoma?
According to Macmillian Cancer Support, rhabdomyosarcoma is a rare type of soft tissue sarcoma.
The most common parts of the body for rhabdomyosarcoma to develop are:
The head and neck
Bladder
Vagina
Arms and legs
Central part of the body (trunk)
It is extremely rare and there are only up to 60 new cases a year in the UK, mostly in children under the age of 10 years.
What are the symptoms?
Macmillian Cancer Support provide a list of symptoms for the rare form of cancer.
Some of them include:
A lump that you can see or feel
Blockage and discharge from the nose
Changes in swallowing or hearing
You may have a swollen eye, where the eye seems to be pushed forward
Pain in the tummy (abdomen)
Difficulty pooing (constipation)
Blood in your pee (urine) or difficulty peeing
Needing to use the toilet to wee more frequently (in men or boys)
Vaginal discharge (in women or girls).