An eight-year-old boy has lost his fight with a rare and aggressive form of bone cancer, after his family noticed a “pea-sized” bump on his leg earlier this year.
Chandler Tran’s family shared their heartbreak after he passed away on Friday, saying they “miss him so much”.
It was when he returned one day from holiday care back in Easter that Chandler’s family noticed he had a small bump on his leg and was walking with a limp.
After an X-ray, he was taken to The Children’s Hospital at Westmead in Sydney. A week later, Chandler was given the devastating diagnosis of osteosarcoma, a rare bone cancer.
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Doctors also found multiple tumours in his lungs.
On Saturday, his family confirmed that Chandler had passed away.
“It is with great sadness that Claudia and I share the following update on behalf of the Tran family,” the organisers of a GoFundMe for the family wrote.
“Chandler chose to leave us peacefully in his sleep at 2am on Friday, November 25, 2022.
“He waited until everyone had come to say their goodbyes for the day, and then for Mummy to go to sleep before taking his final little breath.
“We already miss him so much,” they wrote in the post.
“Staying true to the Chandler we all knew and loved, he made sure everyone else was OK first.
“Fly high little angel and may you rest in peace️.”
During his seven-month cancer battle, Chandler, who loved playing with Lego, underwent multiple rounds of chemotherapy, spent his eighth birthday in hospital and had to have his leg amputated.
Chandler’s father Cong Tran previously said that his son wrote a heartbreaking goodbye note to his leg in a drawing on his iPad.
“He drew a little love heart over his leg and wrote a little message,” Mr Tran said.
“He wrote: ‘Dear leg, I’ll miss you so much when you’re gone, love Chandler.’
“He was sad about the prospect of losing his leg, but he was like, ‘If that’s what I need to do to not have pain, then that’s OK.’
Unfortunately, the tumours in his lungs continued to grow, with doctors saying that any treatment at that point would only be palliative.
Mr Tran said his son’s bravery helped the rest of the family cope with the horrific situation.