Youngster diagnosed with cancer after injury in PE lesson

A NINE-YEAR-OLD Sunderland fanatic was diagnosed with cancer after being hit in the face with a tennis ball during a PE lesson. Anna Rose Bradley suffered an injury at St Joseph's Primary School in Washington, which resulted in her gums swelling up and an ulcer forming.

- DAVID HUNTLEY

But after a number of tests and hospital admissions, Anna was diagnosed with leukaemia. The footballmad youngster is now undergoing chemotherapy and spent over four weeks in hospital. Despite her diagnosis, Anna is bravely battling the blood cancer and is itching to get back to playing the sport she loves.

Anna's mum, Kelsey Hall, 28, said: “One day she came home from school and said she'd been hit in the face with a tennis ball during PE. There was a little bruise on her gum. We thought nothing of it, but then it developed into an ulcer.

“By luck, I'd booked a dentist appointment anyway, so they took pictures of it, it was minute. The next morning it was a bit bigger and by the time I finished work a couple of days later it was infected.”