A heart-warming video shows a cancer-fighting toddler cheering on Wales from his hospital bed. The touching video was shared on TikTok by two-year-old Morgan's mum Natalie Ridler on Sunday, June 5 as Wales played against Ukraine in Cardiff.
Morgan, from Swansea, was diagnosed with a rare and complex form of cancer in October 2021 called adrenocortical carcinoma. On her TikTok account called @Nataliemelfa, Natalie regularly posts about Morgan's journey to raise awareness and update followers.
During the match, she took a clip of Morgan sitting upright in his hospital bed watching eagerly as Wales captain Gareth Bale walks across the pitch. "Dere'mlaen Cymru, Come on Wales!", she wrote over the clip, captioning it as "Cheering on Wales from the hospital room!"
Morgan and Natalie's good luck gesture paid off when Wales beat Ukraine 1-0 and booked their place at the World Cup for the first time in 64 years. The video has so far been watched over 2,000 times and liked nearly 200 times.
Speaking to WalesOnline in December 2021, Natalie and her husband Matt said they noticed something might be wrong with Morgan in April that year when he started to gain weight and develop issues with his tummy. A scan at Morriston Hospital found that Morgan had adrenal cortex cancer. The odds of getting the condition are less than one in a million and his parents believe he is the only child in the UK with it.
Morgan had a tumour in his stomach the size of a honeydew melon, which was pushing into all of his organs, affecting his blood pressure, his weight, and his adrenal glands had to be removed. His devastated parents were told that Morgan had a tiny chance of survival, and that he may not make it through surgery. But after travelling to hospital in Birmingham, doctors managed to remove it.
Such is the rare nature of Morgan's condition that his treatment is being led by St Jude Children's Hospital in Tennessee. In America, there is approximately between 600 and 1,000 people who have the rare form of cancer from a population of 350 million people.
Despite the enormous adversity he has faced in his young life, Matt explained how his son has not let it stand in his way. "He's one of the cheekiest, happiest kids going," he said. "Nothing phases him, even through this, which shows how resilient he has been to everything. He loves his sister, absolutely loves cars, and is always laughing, always smiling, he's a great, great kid."
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