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Sunderland’s Danny Graham steps up to help fifth-tier footballer afford potentially career-saving surgery

Swansea City v Sunderland - Premier League

SWANSEA, WALES - FEBRUARY 07: Danny Graham of Sunderland arrives prior the Premier League match between Swansea City and Sunderland AFC at Liberty Stadium on February 7, 2015 in Swansea, Wales. (Photo by Athena Pictures/Getty Images)

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Danny Graham’s goal against Everton on May 9 may’ve saved Sunderland’s Premier League status, and the veteran Premier League forward wasn’t done helping the Northeast England soccer community.

Graham, 29, has stepped up big time to help a player for Gateshead in England’s fifth tier.

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The player’s name is JJ O’Donnell and he has a pretty big problem and some pretty loyal young fans. O’Donnell, 23, is suffering from sesamoidtis, a disease that causes intense pain whenever he puts pressure on his feet. This, unsurprisingly, threatened his career as a footballer.

The surgery to fix sesamoidtis is rare and far from a sure thing. According to the Chronicle, it’s only been attempted on a pair of American football players and only cured one of them. It was going to cost $8,000, and O’Donnell didn’t have that kind of dough.

So a pair of young Gateshead fans --
Lee Calder, 16, and Sam Jupp, 13 -- stepped up to help him with a Go Fund Me page, and Graham applied the finishing touch.

A massive thank you to #SunderlandAFC striker Danny Graham who has donated a massive £2,690 to cover… https://t.co/s6RwA83PWX

— Lee Calder (@newLeeCalder) May 18, 2015


Class move, Graham, and good on the fans. Now let’s hope the good charity gives some sort of good momentum to the surgery. Cheers, JJ.

Follow @NicholasMendola