LFC superfan Isaac Kearney receives thousands of get well messages from around the world

Thousands of messages from around the world helped Reds’ superfan Isaac Kearney on the road to recovery after an operation just over a week ago.

Seven-year-old Isaac, who has the rare Wolf-Hirschhorn Syndrome, was swamped with Get Well wishes after the surgical procedure at Alder Hey.

Mum Melissa, 34, says people said they wished they had Isaac’s strength, while others praised his bravery and told him ‘you’ll never walk alone’, and she said:

“It’s unbelievable.

“We tell Isaac about all the messages and it makes you realise how much support he has. To know that people are thinking about him has definitely helped him – and us – on his road to recovery, and that’s an amazing feeling.”

The Kirkby mum of three adds:

“I posted news about the operation on social media and one of the first people to like a post after he’d woken up was Darwin Nunez, and when I told Isaac his face lit up.

“It helps so much.”

Isaac became a viral sensation when Melissa started a TikTok account for him about two years ago to give hope and support to other parents of children with Isaac’s condition, and to raise awareness of the syndrome, an extremely rare chromosomal disorder thought to affect around one in 50,000 babies and which impacts cognitive and physical development.

Isaac, who has a sister Florence, five, and six-month old brother Sonny, will face a lifetime of care and medical support.

He went into hospital on January 13 so surgeons could remove his adenoids (tissue which can become enlarged behind the nose) to try to help his breathing after he was diagnosed with sleep apnea which causes it to stop and start in April last year. They also placed grommets (tiny tubes) into his eardrum in a bid to help his hearing.

It was only a small operation but it was the worst procedure Isaac has gone through so far.

Melissa explained:

“It gets harder the older Isaac gets as he becomes more aware of everything,”

“This was one of the most minor operations he’s had but he took it the worst.

“He was fasted before which was hard because for Isaac, who’s been diagnosed with autism too, food is his comfort; and sensory needs mean he hates plasters and anything attached to him like the cannula, and he screamed the hospital down until that was taken out.

“As soon as it was, he was a different child – the Isaac everyone knows and loves.”

Although a minor operation, it is one of more the young LFC fan will probably have to endure this year.

Isaac suffers from cleidocranial dysplasia which means his skull, which should have closed over soon after birth, remained open and consultants looking after him must now operate to break down and rebuild his skull so that the gap no longer remains.

Melissa said:

“They said they wanted to wait until he was seven before they did the reconstruction and Isaac is eight in February and so we are waiting to hear when that might be.

“They will also rebuild his face, to bring it out more, so again that might help his breathing. Otherwise he may have to be put on a CPAP machine at night to deliver pressurised air while he sleeps – and he would definitely hate that!”

What Melissa and husband Alan can be assured of is the support from fans – and non-fans – across the globe.

She said:

“This time we had messages from Brisbane, from Brazil, from Holland and Ireland, all over the world.

“Isaac went to the game on Saturday and people went up to him to check he was okay, one family from Australia again, and another from Poland.

Melissa, a phlebotomist in a GP surgery who’s currently on maternity leave, smiled:

“To know that we have that family of support means so much,”

“Before Isaac went down for his operation I asked people to keep him in their thoughts, and we felt the presence of everyone. That means so much, to have had it then and to know it will be there in the future.

“Isaac realises he is so lucky to have this support, and to have people say how proud they are of him, and it really does help – even though I don’t think he realises how big this all is.

“What he’s going through is hard, and it’s going to get harder. But for him to know that so many people are behind him, and us as a family, is lovely.”