Former Premier League star Gabriel Agbonlahor has shared the heart-breaking news that his 11-year-old niece has died.
Taking to Instagram, the former Aston Villa striker wrote: “Rest in heaven now my beautiful niece princess Jayla. You have suffered enough in this cruel world!
“I love you and so many people will always love you! Watching you take your last breaths today has broken me. We will see you soon.”
Agbonlahor, now a pundit with the likes of talkSPORT, then issued another touching tribute on Twitter. "Rest in peace jayla my beautiful niece," he wrote. "Until we see you again go and rest pain free in heaven."
Jayla Agbonlahor passed away on Friday after living after suffering with a degenerative brain disorder. She had been unable to walk or talk and was fed through a food tube in her stomach.
Her family had previously been fighting for the use of Cannabis oil in an effort to treat her ongoing seizures. Doctors had previously advised her parents that she would be unlikely to live beyond the age of four. "When Jayla was born there was nothing wrong with her," Jayla's mum Louise said in 2017.
"But then, days after her first birthday, she stopped breathing and kept going blue. She was rushed to hospital where she remained for five months.
“At first they thought it was epilepsy. But eventually they couldn’t diagnose her and I was told that she wasn’t expected to survive."
Louise had previously set up a fundraising campaign named Jayla's Wish, with a post on Saturday morning confirming the heart-breaking news of her death. It read: "Jayla Loren you are the most beautiful and strong princess I have ever known fly high beautiful."
Agbonlahor had taken to social media previously to ask for support with Jayla having been hospitalised. A tweet earlier this week read: "Please keep my niece in your prayers," with a prayer and read heart emoji following after.
The former Aston Villa striker has been inundated with messages of support since, including a number of former teammates including Stililyan Petrov, Emile Heskey, Fabian Delph and Darren Bent all rallying around him. The vast majority of the posts were simple heart emojis posted as comments alongside Agbonlahor's original Instagram post.
Former Villa defender Curtis Davies in the meanwhile replied: "Sorry for your loss bro. Love to the family."
Anton Ferdinand was also among those to have given his tributes. He wrote: "Condolences to you and ur family gabby sending you all my prayers and love."
