A baby boy whose mum captured a poignant photograph of the moment his big brother comforted him after he was diagnosed with terminal cancer, has died.
Brothers William and Thomas, from Australia, were caught sharing the tender moment by their mum Sheryl Blanksby in March, when she found William telling his sibling:
“‘Kuya [Filipino for big brother] is here. Everything is ok.’”
Blanksby shared the photo on Instagram and it quickly went viral as people were moved by the family’s experiences.
Thomas was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of cancer called a malignant rhabdoid tumour over his kidney and in skin lesions.
Tumours were also found in both of his lungs, on his hip bone and his right femur bone.
Thomas died at 7.30pm on Monday 8 May, surrounded by his family. He was five months old.
“He fought the good fight especially when he was only expected to live for only short amount of weeks after his diagnosis,” Blanksby shared on Instagram.
The mum revealed that Thomas had died exactly two years after she miscarried a baby.
“They are now together with our loved ones who are looking down upon us,” she wrote.
“He’s no longer in pain is our only consolation. We miss him so much everything hurts.”
Blanskby has also shared how her elder son William is coping with the loss of his brother.
In a heartbreaking Instagram post addressed to her “little warrior Thomas”, Blanksy wrote:
“Your superkuya William was looking for you everywhere in the house today. He thought we were hiding you to surprise him.
“I told him you’re in heaven now and he got worried that you will miss him so much. He was also worried that you will get wet from the rain.
“I told him to look up the sky and say hi to you and to watch out for signs when you say hello back. We miss you so much darling boy.”