A young England football fan has won praise after he gave up his Euro 2020 semifinal tickets to donate life-saving stem cells.
Sam Astley, 24, from Sedgley in the West Midlands, was set to attend the game between England and Denmark at Wembley on Wednesday (7) evening after his girlfriend won tickets in a competition.
But he gave up the chance and watched the match from a hospital bed after he volunteered to donate stem cells and bone marrow to help a blood cancer sufferer through UK charity Anthony Nolan and was informed he matched with a patient.
He and his girlfriend gave their tickets to relatives.
Astley's story was initially reported by the Stourbridge News, a local newspaper, but was then picked up more widely including on social media such as the Twitter account of former England star player Gary Lineker, now a BBC football commentator with eight million followers.
"Amazing. Can you help @FA @England ?" Lineker tweeted.
Later on Thursday (8), an official sponsor of Euro 2020, smartphone company Vivo Europe, tweeted that it wanted to help Astley attend the final.
"We saw this and would like to help Sam go to the final on Sunday," the company tweeted.
"Sam deserves to be at the game and we want to make it happen!"
A Vivo spokesman told the Stourbridge News that it had arranged for Astley and his girlfriend to attend the final as guests, to thank him for "his selfless lifesaving donation".
The chief executive of Anthony Nolan, Henny Braund, tweeted that Astley was a "hero".
The BBC reported that Astley underwent a procedure to remove bone marrow containing stem cells from his hip bones.
Astley tweeted a picture of him in a hospital bed on Thursday (8), thanking Lineker and others for "all the wonderful messages" and saying the procedure went well and he is now recovering.
Anthony Nolan finds stem cell donors whose tissue is a close genetic match to blood cancer patients, so that it can be used as a transplant, giving them the best chance of survival.
(AFP)
Clifford had previously pleaded guilty to the murders of BBC sports commentator John Hunt’s wife and two daughters at their home in northwest of London, in July 2024. (Photo: Hertfordshire Police /Handout via REUTERS)
Crossbow murderer found guilty of raping ex-girlfriend
A 26-YEAR-OLD man who murdered three women in a crossbow and stabbing attack has been found guilty of raping one of them, his ex-girlfriend, a British court ruled on Thursday.
Kyle Clifford had previously pleaded guilty to the murders of BBC sports commentator John Hunt’s wife and two daughters at their home in Bushey, northwest of London, in July 2024.
The attack led to a manhunt before Clifford was found injured hours later in a north London cemetery.
A jury at Cambridge Crown Court on Thursday convicted Clifford of raping 25-year-old Louise Hunt before killing her.
His sentencing for all the crimes is scheduled for Tuesday.
Clifford had admitted to murdering Carol Hunt, 61, and her daughters Louise and Hannah, 28. He had also pleaded guilty to charges of false imprisonment and possessing offensive weapons but denied raping Louise.
During the trial, the court heard that after killing Carol Hunt, Clifford waited for an hour before attacking Louise, tying her up, raping her, and then killing her with a crossbow. He later killed Hannah when she returned home from work.
The prosecution described Clifford, a former soldier, as committing a "violent, sexual act of spite" and said he was "enraged" after Louise ended their 18-month relationship. They told the court that he had "carefully planned" the attack.
Less than 24 hours before the killings, Clifford had searched for a podcast by social media influencer Andrew Tate, according to the prosecution. They argued that the murders were driven by the "violent misogyny promoted" by Tate.
Justice Joel Bennathan called Clifford’s crimes "dreadful" and "almost unspeakable".
(With inputs from AFP)