West Ham have paid emotional tribute to academy star Oscar Fairs after the 15-year-old goalkeeper lost his battle with brain cancer last week.
The teenager was diagnosed with ependymoma - a rare tumour that grows in the brain or spinal cord - in August 2023, after being misdiagnosed for eight months with mental health problems for suffering panic attack-like symptoms.
But an MRI scan later found a nine-centimetre tumour on the left side of his brain attached to his motor system, with three cysts on the outside.
Last weekend saw all academy fixtures postponed as a mark of respect for Fairs' passing, with a pre-match ceremony held at the London Stadium ahead of the Hammers' first home match since the tragedy.
Before facing Brighton, the first team warmed up in t-shirts with Fairs' photograph pictured on the front, and the message: 'One Of Our Own'.
Wreaths were then laid ahead of kick-off, and both teams took part in a moving minute's applause as fans clapped to remember the talented teenager.
Fairs, 15, died after a brave battle with cancer after being diagnosed with a rare brain tumour.
The teenager was a member of West Ham's academy and played alongside sporting director Mark Noble's son.
Members of the U15 academy were also invited to take part in the tribute on the pitch and held up Fairs' jersey during the proceedings.
Both West Ham and Brighton also sported black armbands, as did their coaches Julen Lopetegui and Fabian Hurzeler.
Club legend and sporting director Mark Noble is the father of a friend of Fairs', Lenny, who played alongside the goalkeeper in the academy, and he shared his own emotional statement on the impact of Fairs' death shortly after the news was publicised.
'Oscar was adored by everyone at the Academy - not only was he a great goalkeeper, he was a true Hammer and a fantastic young person, who will be deeply missed by everyone who had the pleasure to know him,' Noble wrote.
'I have wonderful memories of Oscar playing in my garden - Lenny and his teammates all loved him. He was a friendly, happy, well-mannered and polite young man, who had such a bright future ahead of him, and it is just so unimaginably devastating that he has been taken from his family and friends at this age.
'As a mark of respect, it was only right that all scheduled Academy fixtures last weekend were postponed. In due course, the Club will also share information on our plans to pay tribute to Oscar, and we will ensure that his name is never forgotten at West Ham United.
'The thoughts and sincere condolences of everyone at the Club are with Oscar's parents, Natalie and Russell, and his brother Harry, and we kindly ask that the family's privacy is respected at this extremely difficult time.
'Rest in peace, brave Oscar.'
Fairs had undergone surgery to remove the tumour last year after losing the ability to walk and talk.
Ahead of his eventual diagnosis, Fairs had been routinely told that he had 'hypothetical anxiety' and that he was 'on the spectrum'.
In the wake of his death, his mother Natalie called for a greater level of education into the symptoms of brain tumours in a bid to save other families from suffering.
'If you've got prostrate cancer or breast cancer or even a blood clot or stroke, everybody knows the steps to check yourself,' she told MailOnline.
'With a brain tumour, there has been nothing in my 40 years of life, not a poster, not a step-by-step of how to check, about the symptoms of a brain tumour. Why is this not being advertised on the telly like breast cancer symptoms are?'