‘Warrior’ boy, 2, dies as nanny pays heartbreaking tribute

Paul-Joseph Power was described as “naughty and determined”

A ‘little warrior’ has died after battling a rare form of cancer. Clare Power, from Birkenhead, paid tribute to her grandson Paul-Joseph Power, who died in the early hours of Friday, July 19, aged two.

The child died of metastatic neuroblastoma. The 48-year-old told the ECHO: “He was also at home with me and his other child, Lisa. We decided that he should be at home rather than in a hospice because he spent a lot of time in hospital. He died of metastatic neuroblastoma.

“It had spread to his little body, but through it all, he always had a beautiful smile on his face and such a massive personality for such a young boy. He loved to play outside and always wanted to go outside no matter the weather. He was cheeky, determined and always knew what he wanted.

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“He was loved by so many people. Hundreds of people followed his journey online. He loved his cars, Andy’s Adventures, Spider-Man and waffle doggy. He spent most of his time wearing Crocs, a backpack and a fireman’s hat.

“He loved his Crocs so much that while he was very clumsy at home, he didn’t take them off. We as a family are absolutely devastated, I feel lost without him, miss him so much, especially his two brothers Jacob and Tyler who have had to go through this journey with him.”

Clare previously issued a warning to parents with the ECHO after Paul-Joseph suddenly had an inexplicable black eye. Nana said they “came out of nowhere.” The grandmother-of-six said: “She started getting these black eyes that turned yellow. It was strange because as time went on they turned black.

“For the first day or so, we thought maybe it had fallen off, but over the course of a week they just kept getting darker and darker. Everything came so fast because before that it was perfect. It started to deteriorate rapidly after that. He didn’t eat or drink well. I just knew something was wrong.”

Clare’s partner and Paul-Joseph’s other child Lisa Power-Smith, 47, took him to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital to be checked. Here, the couple received the devastating news that Paul-Joseph had a rare invasive form stage 4 neuroblastoma cancer. Cancer develops from immature nerve cells found in many areas of the body.

Before the diagnosis, health professionals feared that Paul-Joseph was being beaten at home because of his eyes. As a result, social services became involved with the family, which Clare understands had to happen given the circumstances.

Clare, caretaker and Stall owner in Neston Square, said: “I was an absolute mess. It was a blur looking back – I encouraged him so we went through all the security checks.

“I would rather social services were overprotective of children than underprotective, but I think people need to know about neuroblastoma. We could have taken all our children, that’s why people need to remember the word – neuroblastoma.”

Paul-Joseph’s chemotherapy was no longer working and he had been placed on palliative care. Clare, a mother-of-three, added: “It was awful. It is very difficult, not only for me, but for everyone, for the whole family. I’m so angry I can’t breathe sometimes. I just feel anger, it’s so unfair to have this on a child, a young child.”