‘Good human’ - Aston Villa legend Jack Grealish proves class act with donation to Birmingham cancer patient

Aston Villa legend Jack Grealish has proved he is a class act off the pitch once again by sending a huge donation to a poorly Birmingham City fan fighting for his life.

Dylan Lamb believed he had pulled a muscle in his back but weeks of illness and a trip to A&E resulted in the heartbreaking discovery that the 20-year-old has Precursor T-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia. The University of Liverpool student now requires treatment in America if he is to survive but the family need to find £1 million to make that happen.

A GoFundMe page has been set up for the ‘kind, funny and genuine’ young man to get the vital treatment he needs and over the past five days over £125,000 has been raised for the cause.

One of the top donors on the page gave a huge £5,000 to the fundraiser and his name was a familiar one - that of Jack Grealish.

The Manchester City star also shared the fundraiser online urging people to ‘please have a read’ as social media users who spotted his donation labelled the England international ‘such a good human’ and a ‘top bloke’.

It’s the latest generous move from the Aston Villa superfan who previously raised £55,000 for the NHS by raffling off a match-worn Villains shirt, as well as donating £150,000 to a local hospital.

Over 7,300 people have now donated to Dylan’s cause, with another anonymous top donor matching Grealish’s £5,000 sum.

Running the fundraiser on behalf of the family, Kelly Payne said: “Following Dylan’s wonderful treatment by Nottingham City Hospital Haematology team together with Teenage Cancer Trust, many of his friends and family members have raised funds for Teenage Cancer Trust in the hope that more Teenagers and Young Adults can receive the same excellent treatment. As well as treating them physically, Teenage Cancer Trust also do everything in their power to help our young people maintain their identity throughout treatment.

“Now we are turning to you to ask you to please help us. We need to raise the money as quickly as possible to get Dylan to America for the clinical trial to commence. This disease is aggressive and he will not have years, we are talking weeks, possibly months if we are lucky, if he doesn’t have this treatment.

“Dylan is 20! He should be planning his fantasy football team, returning to university, lads holidays, his whole future, but instead he is trying to prepare himself for the worst. He sees elderly people getting into their cars after treatment feeling ‘I won’t ever get to live a long life like they have’. It makes our hearts ache to hear those words. He is so loved by so many people and has touched so many other people’s lives. Please help us to help Dylan live that life he so loves and deserves.”