It was a pleasure for us to welcome Rio Spurr to the club on Wednesday morning, along with dad – former Owls defender – Tommy Spurr and wife Chloe.
Rio has been battling a rare and aggressive stage 4 cancer. He was diagnosed with a Wilms tumour in April 2022 (only 80 children in the UK are diagnosed with a Wilms tumour every year).
Rio had a large tumour in his right kidney which had spread to his lungs.
Following surgery to remove his right kidney and primary tumour, the pathologist found Rio's cancer was high risk and anaplastic. This means his cancer is more resistant to chemotherapy, harder to cure and more likely to comeback.
The Spurr family, though, received the best possible news late last month following the conclusion of his treatment - with no sign of any disease detected on his scans!
Tommy tweeted: “We saw our consultant today at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital. The remaining tumours on Rio’s lungs have gone and they can’t see any cancer anywhere else in his body.
“It is the BEST possible news we could have hoped for!
“This is a massive milestone. Today could have gone one of a few ways. We aren’t so naïve to think that this is fully behind us yet. With Rio’s anaplastic diagnosis carrying such a high chance of relapse, there is a long way to go. But for now we deserve to enjoy this moment fully and plan on making the most of every single second!”
The fundraising continues and Rio’s Steel City derby is fast approaching!
Tommy and Chloe have teamed up with Sheffield FC and Sheffield Eagles to stage a 'Steel City derby' of former Wednesday and United stars to help raise funds.
The game will take place at Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park (S9 3TL) on Sunday 14 May (2:00pm).
A host of former favourites from Wednesday and United will come together for one afternoon, including appearances from former Wednesday manager Ron Atkinson and United manager Neil Warnock.
Tickets are priced £13 for adults and £8 for under 18s.
Please come along if you can to show your support! Tickets are available here - https://www.eventbrite.com/e/rio-spurrs-steel-city-derby-tickets-609388325887