Brad Jones: I snubbed the World Cup for my sick son

Liverpool goalkeeper Brad Jones was in South Africa with Australia when he received a call that instantly ended his World Cup dream.

From that moment on, nothing else mattered but being with his four-year-old son Luca.

Just five days before the Aussies’ first game, Brad’s former wife Julie broke the terrible news that Luca had acute myeloid leukaemia.

He had started chemotherapy and the search was on for a bone marrow donor but a course of painful treatment lay ahead.

Jones quit the tournament ­immediately and team-mates wept when told of his family situation.

Three months on and Jones told yesterday of the harrowing journey his son has been on, and how he is using this year’s Great North Run, with partner Dani Lawrence, to raise awareness of the Anthony Nolan charity which helps families find bone marrow donors.

Brad said: “Luca had been off school with flu symptoms. He had antibiotics. But it didn’t get any better. His mum took him back to the doctor to check again and they took some blood tests.

“Then we found out. It was five days before the first game and I was out in Johannesburg when I got the call. It would have been terrible wherever I had got the news. At that point football is the last thing on your mind.

“The fact that I was at the World Cup and I was so far away... it was not a nice thing to hear. Not being able to be there immediately.

“The Australia staff were great and organised me a flight the next morning and said go and see him. They organised everything. I flew to France, where Luca lives with his mum, and when I arrived they had already started the chemo. It all happened very quickly.

“Chemo is not nice. Luca lost weight and started to lose his hair. It was more the weight loss I noticed. You go to see him, give him a hug, and he had gone very thin. He put a bit back on at home.

“Now he is at the point he has lost most of his hair and visually it is more obvious. He didn’t seem himself and the side effects of the treatment had already kicked in. He wasn’t feeling too great.

“It is a horrible thing to walk in and have your son wired up to tubes and all sorts. On the days he didn’t have treatment he was content to be sat there. He kind of new something was wrong but didn’t make a fuss. They ran tests the whole time and later in the chemo we found out he needed a bone marrow transplant.”

Luckily a match was found for Luca and he will have his bone marrow transplant next month.

Dani explained: “They found the donor from an umbilical cord match. In the UK it is not widely done, but in Europe when a mother gives birth the placenta and umbilical cord are kept.

“Stem cells are taken from that very healthy situation and stored. That is how he got his match. ­Hopefully more mothers can share their happy time by having this happen.

“You can get on the bone marrow donor register by simply sending in spit in a tube for analysis. That is all you do. It is not just for people who give blood.”

Brad added: “Luca will have his operation in a few weeks hopefully. We hope he reacts well to having it and everything comes good.

“I had not heard how easy it is to be a donor. Now I want to use our sport to get the word out there and get people understanding what a problem it is.

“We were told there are thousands waiting for a donor match. We are fortunate in that they have found a match for him but we sit here thinking what if they didn’t.

“We will do anything we can do. If all we can do is raising awareness and getting more on to the donor list and raising money for the charity then we will.”

Unfortunately for Brad, he can’t join Dani on the Great North Run because Liverpool play Manchester United on the same day.

He added: “I am gutted I can’t join Dani on the Great North Run. We planned it when I was at Boro.

“We were due to play on the Saturday, and I was going to run with Dani on the Sunday.

“At Liverpool we now play Man U so I will be a bit busy. I would love to have done it. Dani will be flying the flag. She has trained quite hard and she will do well.

“At Boro everyone knew Luca and quite a few people joined the list giving money and stuff. A few of the Liverpool boys have said they will donate some money too.

“Everyone in football is willing to help. At the last home game at Anfield they put out an announcement at half time. Anthony Nolan had a recruitment drive the same weekend and got 300 signed up.”

Dani, a physiotherapist, has a £5,000 target, and added: “When Brad called I could not believe what he was telling me.

“A few weeks before Luca had been here and was a normal robust boy, jumping around everywhere.It is a long haul. We are on the phone and Skype every day to his hospital. He sounds OK playing with his toys, but he can’t go out of his room or socialise with other children. So it is difficult for him.

“All the doctors are hopeful the way it has gone so far and the bone marrow match is perfect.

“He is such a good boy. My Anthony Nolan vest is black and green so he thinks I’m running for Ben 10 the children’s character!”

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Brad and Dani would like football fans to become bone marrow donors.

For information go to: www.anthonynolan.org .

To help them raise funds for the Anthony Nolan charity go to: www.justgiving.com/Brad-Jones/1