Ex-England star, 24, dies with cancer weeks after proposing to girlfriend
Ben Cull has tragically passed away after a battle with a rare form of bone cancer, with his fiancee Daisy Morrison sharing the news just weeks after the couple got engaged
Former England youth footballer Ben Cull has tragically died at the age of just 24 after a brave battle with cancer.
Ben, who represented England’s U16 side, was forced to retire aged 17 after he was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer known as Ewing sarcoma. The diagnosis left him needing a knee replacement and ended his hopes of a career in football even after he got the all clear from doctors in July 2017.
However, the cancer returned with a routine lung scan shortly before Ben and his partner Daisy Morrison were set to visit Paris to celebrate his 21st birthday in 2019, finding an abnormality on his lungs which turned out to be a tumour. He was told by doctors at the time that less than five per cent of patients with his type of cancer live longer than five years after their diagnosis and the couple later set up a GoFundMe which raised over £25,000 to allow the couple to fulfil some of Ben’s “bucket list ideas”.
The former Southampton academy prospect also raised over £20,000 for the Teenage Cancer Trust. Daisy shared the tragic news of Ben’s passing on social media just weeks after the couple got engaged when he proposed while in hospital.
However, the cancer returned with a routine lung scan shortly before Ben and his partner Daisy Morrison were set to visit Paris to celebrate his 21st birthday in 2019, finding an abnormality on his lungs which turned out to be a tumour. He was told by doctors at the time that less than five per cent of patients with his type of cancer live longer than five years after their diagnosis and the couple later set up a GoFundMe which raised over £25,000 to allow the couple to fulfil some of Ben’s “bucket list ideas”.
The former Southampton academy prospect also raised over £20,000 for the Teenage Cancer Trust. Daisy shared the tragic news of Ben’s passing on social media just weeks after the couple got engaged when he proposed while in hospital.
In a heartbreaking post on Instagram, Daisy wrote: “The hardest goodbye. Yesterday I lost my whole life, my fiance, my soulmate, my person, my entire world. I always hoped and prayed this day would never, ever come. True heartbreak is real, my heart physically hurts and I’ve never felt pain like this.
“My mum and dad couldn’t of picked a better soulmate for me, they adored you, they think of you as a son and are hurting so bad right now. They say you go for someone like your father and god you were like dad, two peas in a pod, the best of friends, couldn’t of wished for a stronger bromance.