Jack Grealish has shown his class by making a sizeable donation to help a young Birmingham City fan in need of an urgent clinical trial in the United States. Grealish famously came up through Aston Villa’s academy before establishing himself as a club legend prior to joining Manchester City two summers ago.
The England winger is known to be proud of his Villa roots but put their rivalry with Birmingham to one side on Sunday by chipping in to help Dylan, a 20-year-old Blues fan who is battling leukaemia and needs a potentially life-changing clinical trial to stand the best chance of survival.
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A GoFundMe page, set up to help fund Dylan’s treatment in the United States, showed that Grealish and another anonymous donor had both contributed £5,000 to the pot. At the time of writing, over £116,000 had been raised for Dylan from over 6,700 separate donations, but this figure only makes up a small portion of the £1,000,000 needed to ensure his place in the clinical trial.
The donation page was shared by Birmingham’s official Twitter account on Monday evening, leading many fans to point out Grealish’s generous contribution to the cause. Meanwhile, a message of gratitude to all donors was posted on the GoFundMe page by Dylan’s mother, Kim, over the weekend.
Jack Grealish has donated £5,000 to help a Birmingham City fan suffering from leukaemia
“We as Dylan’s family and friends cannot even begin to express enough our gratitude for all the donations, shares, and messages of support (the messages really are helping us to stay positive),” read the message.
“Some of your names we recognise, most we don’t, but we really feel the love and prayers and we would like to thank each and every one of you individually for your support. Dylan is so touched by it all and sends his sincere thanks too. Please, please, please keep sharing his story so we can get it out to as many people as possible.”
The 27-year-old is known to carry out charitable acts on a regular basis
Grealish has a history of performing philanthropic deeds; the City forward has frequently utilized his position of power to assist individuals who are less fortunate than himself. At the height of the Covid pandemic in 2020, he auctioned off one of his game-worn Villa shirts to generate $55,000 for the NHS, and he was also given credit for donating £150,000 to a nearby hospital.
The 27-year-old has also long supported the Saving Lives and Children in Need organizations. Earlier this year, at the Etihad Stadium, he surprised an emotional wheelchair-bound City fan with an autographed shirt. Grealish also kept a promise he made to an 11-year-old fan with cerebral palsy before the World Cup began by performing a special dance in celebration of a goal. The fan has cerebral palsy.
