Cancer survivor surprised by footballing hero
Manchester United's Alejandro Garnacho and seven-year-old Anderson Pollard
- Published
A young boy has been surprised by his footballing hero after ending his cancer treatment.
Anderson Pollard, from Redditch, Worcestershire, was treated to a special one-on-one meeting with Manchester United's Alejandro Garnacho during a visit to the club's training centre.
The seven-year-old was diagnosed with Burkitt’s lymphoma, a type of blood cancer, on 2 May - just after his birthday.
Anderson was given the all clear on 18 September following four months of treatment.
Discussing the early signs of Anderson's illness, his dad, Sam Pollard, said he noticed his son was lethargic and "not being himself".
It was initially suspected to be constipation but further blood tests and an MRI scan revealed it was cancer.
Anderson went through four months of treatment before being given the all clear
Burkitt’s lymphoma develops when part of the immune system, called B-cells, become abnormal.
It is a form of cancer that is fast growing, according to Cancer Research UK., external
By the time surgeons could operate, his father said Anderson no longer had a belly button because the cancer grew so much.
While in hospital, the youngster would quiz doctors by stating that his favourite player had played with both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, to see if they could guess who it was (A: Garnacho, of course).
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After his recovery the football-mad dad and son were invited in January to Carrington Training Centre, where Manchester United train.
A video posted by the Premier League club on YouTube showed the moment Anderson, who was only been expecting a tour of the training complex, was surprised by his idol.
Mr Pollard described it as a "fantastic day".
"The opportunity to meet your hero is not something that many people get to do," he told the BBC.
"Seeing your child be able to do that is just immense, it is really hard to put it into words; especially after the challenging times he has had to go through and we have had to go through as a family."
Mr Pollard described the Manchester United winger as a "really, really nice young guy".
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