Jermain Defoe: Outside The Box 

Other

BBC Radio 5 Live

Jermain Defoe: Outside The Box

Podcasts

Sport: Football

Can Former England and Premier League striker Jermain Defoe become a Football Manager?

As a player Jermain Defoe scored over three hundred goals for club and country. In this fly-on-the wall series, Outside the Box details the next step of his journey in football

Jermain Defoe: Outside The Box: 10. About A Boy

10. About A Boy

BBC Radio 5 Live - Jermain Defoe: Outside The Box, 10. About A Boy

Jermain takes an emotional trip to the North East to see the family of Bradley Lowery.

Jermain takes an emotional trip to the North East to see the family of Bradley Lowery, the young boy who he befriended after being diagnosed with neuroblastoma.

This episode discussed child bereavement and you can find details of organisations offering information and support at bbc.co.uk/actionline

In episode ten of Outside the Box, Jermain takes an emotional trip to the North East to see the family of Bradley Lowery, the young boy who he befriended after being diagnosed with neuroblastoma at just 18-months of age.

This episode discussed child bereavement and you can find details of organisations offering information and support are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline

He travels from his home outside London to the small colliery village south of Sunderland to see Gemma and Carl Lowery so that he can sit down and discuss Bradley's life. As Carl looks after the new baby, Gemma and Jermain begin by talking about what sort of boy Bradley was, how his cheeky smile won so many people over, and how football was so important to him. They discuss how the family discovered he had cancer, and the moment when Bradley and Jermain met for the first time - in the Sunderland dressing room ahead of a fixture against Everton in 2016.

Bradley, who was there as a mascot, immediately became attached to Jermain and from that day forward, until the day he passed away some ten months later, the pair became great friends.

They talk about the day Jermain led England out against Lithuania with Bradley as mascot, before things started to get worse with the cancer becoming more aggressive and the family preparing for the worst. Jermain discusses how his faith was the thing that got him through and how his relationship with the Lowery's has made him stronger as a person, despite tragedy in his own life.

The episode ends with Gemma discussing how she talks to Bradley even now and had recently asked him for a sign that he was still there. She tells Jermain that she received a message from someone who wanted to send a poem they'd found which had been written from the perspective of a dead child to their mother. Gemma then reads the poem to an emotional Jermain.

The UK’s home of live news and live sport.

The UK’s home of live news and live sport. With live Premier League and FA Cup football, and Formula 1, Olympics and cricket coverage.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Jermain Defoe: Outside The Box

10. About A Boy

Genres

Brand

BBC Radio 5 Live

About BBC Radio 5 Live