Exclusive: Irons grant dying fan’s final wish

Exclusive

There’s been a happy ending to the story of a terminally ill Hammer who – with only months to live  – will get his wish to attend the Irons last ever Boleyn game.

Dying Hammer ‘Graham’s ‘ tragic story was posted on Facebook by Sue Nash who asked for it to be shared far and wide as she attempted to supply his final wish.

And this afternoon co chairman David Gold told ClaretandHugh exclusively: “We have changed things around. We had to do something. This had to be done.

“We have changed things around and Graham will be at the final game against Manchester United with a carer – we are delighted to have been able to do this – it’s a real joy.’

Grahams story on FB read: “This is Graham. He is terminally ill with motor neurone disease and has only months left to live

“He started watching West Ham from a young age and was a neighbour of Bobby Moore. He would attend games with Bobby’s uncle and watched Bobby, Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters. He was a devoted fan and would go to as many games as he could. Due to his shift work he did not buy a season ticket until he retired at 55. As soon as he got his pension it was the first thing he brought

He attended every game and loved seeing his team play

Two years ago he was diagnosed with MND which prevented him from being able to travel to matches. His frustration at not being able to attend has got him down and this terrible disease has stripped him of so many other things in his life. He is unable to talk, walk or live independently, relying on his family to do every day things for him. He continues to face the disease head on and remains determined to live his life to the max

He continues to follow West Ham from home watching every game on TV. His passion for the hammers remains as strong as ever. To say he is a life long fan is an understatement.

His birthday is Tuesday 10th May and there would be no better present he could have than to fulfil his dying wish to see West Hams final game at Upton Park against Man Utd.

This however seems almost impossible. An application was made which went to a ballot. We found out today it was unsuccessful. I have emailed David Gold the chairman directly and received a phone call this afternoon to say that all the disabled seats have been allocated.

The only hope appears to be in corporate or VIP. That has its difficulties as some of these seats have no disabled access. However some do

Do any of you have any contacts you could ask? Corporate big boys. Someone with a spare ticket? Even the man who sells hot dogs who could sneak him in?

Could I ask you share the hell out of this post in the hope that someone somewhere might be able to help

Graham’s daughter summed it up. She said poignantly, we don’t want this to be Graham’s dream that fades and dies.”

It won’t – thanks to the co chairman and the club the Hammers will bring everything to an end with an emotion-charged and fabulous gesture.

Enjoy the night Graham.