A Millwall fan will walk side by side with West Ham supporters to help raise money for little Isla Caton’s cancer treatment.
Nick Hart, a member of Millwall AMS supporters’ group, is bravely taking on a nine-mile sponsored walk alongside his rivals to help three-year-old Hammers fan Isla, who suffers from neuroblastoma.
The little West Ham supporter’s story has touched the hearts of people across the country – including Millwall fans, who jumped at the chance to help.
Last week, the News reported how Lions fans put their rivalry aside to help Isla’s family raise the £192,000 needed to send her to America for a potentially life-saving vaccine.
In a touching move, Millwall supporters asked to donate their ticket refunds from last month’s Leeds United match to her cause.
And now Nick, originally from Bermondsey, has already raised more than £1,000 in donations to take on a sponsored walk from West Ham’s training ground at Rush Green to London Stadium for the Stoke City game on April 14.
“It’s a heart-wrenching story so I think people really do empathise with the family,” the 57-year-old told the News.
“We will be walking side by side for a great cause; I think it’s kind of reached beyond conventional Millwall loyalties and I think it can show that some things are bigger than football.
“Like people are saying: cancer has no colours. I think that’s a nice phrase.”
Nick said the response to his fundraising campaign had been “amazing” and joked he would wear his Millwall shirt on the day “if the money is right”.
Isla is currently receiving treatment for neuroblastoma – the same rare childhood cancer that sadly claimed the life of young Sunderland supporter Bradley Lowery last year.
When she was diagnosed with the illness last March, her parents were told she had a 40 per cent survival rate – but she has fought back against the odds and now has a survival rate of 60 per cent.
Isla’s family, which includes mum Nicola, 38, dad Michael, 48, and her seventeen-year-old sister, hope to raise £192,000 to send her to America for a bivalent vaccine which could help prevent her cancer from returning once she is in remission.
To read more about Isla’s story, and to donate to her fundraising campaign, visit:
www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/islacaton
To donate to Nick’s fundraising campaign, visit:
www.justgiving.com/fundraising/
achtungmillwallforisla
Any Millwall fans who would like to take part in the sponsored walk alongside Nick are asked to email: CBLthemag@hotmail.co.uk