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.