Five-year-old Joshua McCormack has died

Josh McCormack

Joshua McCormack, five, from Whitworth, died on Friday morning (13 January) at 1.30am after a long battle with brain cancer.

Mum Nicola said: “At 1.30am this morning our world ended when Joshua fell into an eternal sleep.

“The chapter of our lives with you in it was the most perfect, most beautiful and most privileged of all. To say we will miss you would be an understatement. There are no real words for the emotions we feel, but I already feel an overwhelming feeling of fear and heartache for an eternal future without you.”

Josh had largely been unresponsive for the last seven weeks, after he was given just two weeks to live whilst he was being cared for in a local hospice. Updates from his parents, Nicola and Kevin, mentioned Joshua had lost a lot of weight and was spending most of his days sleeping.

Nicola and Kevin received the devastating news that Josh’s tumour was terminal in September 2016, just four days after he returned to school.

During November 2016, he was sent a personal video message from his idol, Keith Lemon and was also named as one of Rochdale AFC’s youngest ever players.

Joshua fell in love with Keith Lemon (and his moustache, which became the #TeamJosh logo) after he had brain surgery in 2015.

Mum Nicola had been watching Celebrity Juice next to Josh when he was in hospital when she heard him laugh ‘for the first time in weeks’.

Josh had initially been diagnosed with the rare, inoperable malignant brain tumour in his brainstem in October 2015. A biopsy later revealed he was suffering from a rare primitive neuroectodermal tumour (PNET). Only 66 people in the world have been diagnosed with PNET.

Josh underwent surgery in November 2015 with a fifty-fifty chance of surviving. His mum, Nicola, was warned Josh might have facial paralysis and a permanent tracheotomy to help with his breathing.

After eight hours of surgery to remove 75% of the tumour, Josh pulled through without any facial paralysis and did not require any breathing assistance.

He learned to walk again after a couple of weeks of physiotherapy and no longer required a wheelchair in the ward.

After Josh’s diagnosis, the local community banded together to support his parents, raising £30,000.

Local fundraising events included a 45 mile walk from Blackpool to Rochdale, a ‘onesie day’ at the local college, bucket collection at a Rochdale AFC home game, events at Riverside and Berni Inn, Whitworth and Kelly Fenton had her head shaved.