Bradley Lowery has passed away after losing his brave battle with cancer

Bradley Lowery, the boy who captured the nation's hearts, has passed away following his battle with cancer.

The six-year-old had been fighting a rare childhood cancer, neuroblastoma, but in recent days it was made clear that Bradley did not have long left. His family confirmed the sad news in a Facebook post on Friday afternoon, saying that Bradley passed away "in mammy and daddies (sic) arms surrounded by his family". "He was our little superhero and put the biggest fight up but he was needed else where," the post read. "There are no words to describe how heart broken we are. Thank you everyone for all your support and kind words. "Sleep tight baby boy and fly high with them angels". The football-obsessed Sunderland fan had been diagnosed with the rare illness when he was 18-months old. There was a huge outpouring of love and support for Bradley as he got older and more people came to know his story. He became Sunderland's mascot and struck up a friendship with striker Jermaine Defoe, walking out onto the pitch with the player, who described the moment as the highlight of his time with Sunderland. More than £700,000 had been raised for Bradley to help fight his illness, but unfortunately his illness had become terminal. Towards the end of May, Bradley had returned home to begin palliative care. At a press conference for his new club Bournemouth, Defoe broke down in tears, saying that Bradley would "always be in my heart".