Raheem Sterling will pay for the funeral of a Crystal Palace academy player who died of leukaemia.
The Manchester City star paid tribute to 13-year-old Damary Dawkins by lifting his England shirt to reveal a message about the youngster, who passed away last month, after scoring the second goal of his hat-trick against the Czech Republic.
The shirt bore a picture of the teenager with the Blues ace and the message “May Your Soul Rest in Peace”.
That gesture brought Sterling a warm welcome from Palace fans when City played at Selhurst Park last week.
Sterling had also supported the family’s quest to find a stem cell donor after he was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. The family set up a GoFundMe page to raise £15,000 to give him the “best send off and celebration of life”.
He has followed it up by covering the costs of Damary’s funeral, which will take place on Friday, and which he intends to attend.
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“Damary was a special young man who touched a lot of lives, including my own. Positive until the very end, he was an example to us all,” said Sterling.
Damary’s father Tony described Sterling’s shirt tribute as “very, very touching” and added: “I knew they used to speak because he (Sterling) came down to the hospital.
“They played pool together and apparently they swapped numbers.
“I remember when Crystal Palace played Manchester City and they lost - Damary put on his tracksuit with the Crystal Palace badge and took a picture to send to Raheem. They had banter with each other.”
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