Stranger pays for man with terminal cancer to meet KISS

It was a crazy, crazy night for Joss and his dad when they got to meet the band on Friday

A KISS fan with terminal cancer had a dream come true when he met the rock band thanks to a stranger's kindness.

Tom Davenport and his eight-year-old son Joss caught up with KISS ahead of their gig in Manchester last Friday.

The group offers a meet-and-greet experience before shows and the cost of the pair's encounter was covered by a fellow fan they had never met.

The stranger, from Sweden, made the gesture after learning of Mr Davenport's circumstances.

They had come to light in a video made by a friend of Mr Davenport that sought to alert the fan community - and the band's management - to his desire to meet KISS, who are on their farewell tour.

When the video was shared on social media, the "random" Swedish fan got in touch and said "I will pay for you to have this experience with the band", explained Mr Davenport, who had already bought tickets to the Manchester gig.

The Alsager resident, who was diagnosed with bile duct cancer 10 months ago, said: "We're huge KISS fans in the house and something worked out for us - we can't quite believe our luck."

Thanking the video's maker, Melanie Atkins, and his fellow fan for his generosity, he described the experience of meeting KISS as "phenomenal".

He said: "The first part of the day was going to see KISS sound check - they throw out plectrums and they're just waving at everybody... a hundred people were there; a hundred KISS fans that had paid for the experience.

"It was amazing. Absolutely amazing."

The pair also watched the band do their sound check

Of someone helping to make his dream come true, Mr Davenport said: "It's mind-blowing the generosity of strangers - a lot of people have been saying to me 'it restores your faith in humanity a bit when something like this happens'.

"We live in a bit of a cynical world so it's quite something that a person I'd never met before was prepared to do that for us."

He said two of the KISS quartet, Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, both acknowledged his son Joss and also waved in a Q&A session.

Joss fist-pumped band members and thoroughly enjoyed himself, his father said

"We waited a good long time but we got to meet KISS in the flesh and they were just great. Really, really lovely," Mr Davenport explained.

He said Joss thoroughly enjoyed himself and was fist-pumping with the band.

"I was a KISS fan 40 years ago. I'm [now] 48 and Joss is eight, so it feels like a real full circle of things."