{"id":503916,"date":"2025-10-16T10:30:25","date_gmt":"2025-10-16T10:30:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/503916\/"},"modified":"2025-10-16T10:30:25","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T10:30:25","slug":"lfc-murals-tour-celebrated-end-of-chemo-journey-for-teenage-reds-fan-jude","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/503916\/","title":{"rendered":"LFC murals tour celebrated end of\u00a0chemo\u00a0journey for teenage Reds\u2019 fan Jude"},"content":{"rendered":"

A teenage Reds fan was taken on a murals tour of Anfield after completing 70 weeks of\u00a0chemotherapy.<\/p>\n

The trip was organised by RedMen TV after they heard about 16-year-old Jude Henry\u2019s dream to visit every single wall-based work of art near LFC\u2019s ground.<\/p>\n

And there were even more surprises in store for the City of Liverpool College student when he was greeted by Jamie Carragher along with\u00a0another former player\u00a0Sammy Lee, and sent video messages from legends Jurgen Klopp, Jordan Henderson, Steven Gerrard, Robbie Fowler, Ian Rush and Jan Molby as he approached their very special tributes.<\/p>\n

Jude\u2019s mum Nicola Slater says:<\/p>\n

\u201cI have never seen my son smile so much, ever.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe tour and the messages were more than we could ever have imagined, and Jude was in disbelief as we went round.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had never wanted to ring the bell to signal the end of\u00a0his chemotherapy protocol, but this was the best celebration he could have had.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\nAnd she adds:<\/p>\n

\u201cJude was absolutely thrilled and he\u2019s been a different boy ever since.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s given him back his confidence and his belief in himself. It\u2019s marked a brand-new start and future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dan Clubbe, RedMen TV presenter, says: <\/p>\n

\u201cI love doing stuff like this and using our channel and platform to do good things is a no-brainer.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe came across Jude\u2019s story when Eddie\u00a0Hincks\u00a0came in to talk about the work of the Owen McVeigh Foundation which helps children and families with cancer, and while it was a simple request, we wondered what we could do to make it better.\u00a0 And it just spiralled!<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were in the process of doing the Diogo Jota mural at the time and I was helping Marc Silver from MurWalls with that \u2013 and as soon as I mentioned it to him, he was like \u2018what can we do?\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot in my wildest dreams did I think we would have the legends that we did. It was pretty special, and I was proud not just of what we had achieved, with the help of Marc at MurWalls,\u00a0Mark McVeigh and Eddie Hincks from\u00a0Owen McVeigh Foundation, and\u00a0Peter Martin from\u00a0Liverpool Connect, but at the sense of pride from seeing Jude\u2019s and his mum\u2019s faces.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo hear what it meant to them means the world to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jude, from Childwall, was just 10 and a pupil at St Francis Xavier School, when he was diagnosed with neurofibromatosis type one, a genetic disorder that causes benign tumours to grow.<\/p>\n

MRI scans showed a large tumour on the back of Jude\u2019s head which was stopping fluid from draining from his brain, as well as tumours on his optic nerve and smaller ones on the left side of his brain.<\/p>\n

While the tumours were benign, left untreated they can become cancerous.<\/p>\n

Nicola, who also has a daughter Niamh, 21 said:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had had months of x-rays and genetic testing, and blood tests, before the MRIs which led to Jude\u2019s diagnosis, and when I was first told, I was shaking,\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were introduced to Professor Conor\u00a0Mallucci\u00a0at Alder Hey \u2013 who is a genius \u2013 who put his arm around me because I was doing such a bad job of trying not to show Jude I was scared stiff, and he told us he could fix this.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n\"\"<\/p>\n

The operation to remove Jude\u2019s\u00a0tumour in his cerebellum\u00a0was carried out in June 2020: \u201cI was told he might not be able to speak afterwards so I was on pins throughout the eight hours it took,\u201d says Nicola. \u201cBut I was so relieved when he could, and when he walked out of bed\u00a0the following day, his 11th\u00a0birthday,\u00a0it was unbelievable \u2013 a sign of how strong he is and has been.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis recovery was going well until last year and I was broken when we discovered the tumours had started growing again and Jude was going to need chemo. But he just accepted it like he had everything else and said \u2018we\u2019d better get cracking on with it\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has been gruelling and so brutal, but Jude looks after everyone else, the younger ones in Alder Hey and at the Owen McVeigh Foundation which has lifted and supported us in our darkest times.\u201d<\/p>\n

Through the Owen McVeigh Foundation and stays in Alder Hey, Jude has met Liverpool players like Virgil van Dijk (who\u2019s a patron of the Foundation) and been lucky enough to watch the players train at the AXA Training Centre.<\/p>\n

Yet, while he had seen some of the murals, it was a dream to see them all in a single tour \u2013 and he did that at the end of August.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo do the murals tour and have so many surprises along the way was just so emotional,\u201d admits Nicola, who\u2019s raised thousands for Alder Hey and the Owen McVeigh Foundation\u00a0for\u00a0whom she\u2019s planning her sixth skydive\u00a0in May 2026.<\/p>\n

To add to LFC memorabilia that Jude already has, he was presented with a 2025\/26 full squad signed LFC shirt from Dan, Marc, Peter and Mark McVeigh, and he also received prints from Marc Silver of Virgil\u2019s mural, and a baseball cap.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat, and to see people like Jamie Carragher and to have all the messages \u2013 and for Jurgen to sing Hey Jude on his! \u2013 was more than we could ever have expected.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s helped Jude massively going forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe tumours are never going to go away completely and Jude will continue to be monitored, but this has been a real celebration\u00a0at\u00a0the end of\u00a0his chemotherapy journey.\u201d<\/p>\n

You can watch Jude explore the murals here<\/a>.
\nFind all the latest Liverpool FC news\u00a0here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Find out what\u2019s good up North on our new platform, The Northern Guide.\u00a0
\nFrom the best hotels, beauty spots, days out, food and more up North \u2013 visit\u00a0thenorthernguide.com<\/a>\u00a0and follow The Northern Guide on Instagram\u00a0HERE.<\/a><\/p>\n