Patrick Bamford never shared a Leeds United dressing room with Tyler Denton, but he may feel closer to the academy product than most after his 26th birthday.
The Whites striker was at St James’s University Hospital for a few hours on the morning of his birthday this week in aid of a special cause.
Organ Donation Week has been at the top of the agenda for many NHS institutions up and down the nation with United keen to play their part in Leeds.
Bamford met with patients and staff at the city hospital on Thursday morning, including Diane Denton, the mother of former Whites left-back Tyler Denton.
Denton moved on to League Two Stevenage this summer, but his mother remains in the area and has seen the life-saving benefits of organ donation from both sides of the fence.
Speaking to Bamford at the hospital, Mrs Denton said she herself woke up one morning with jaundiced eyes, though did not feel unwell.
Mrs Denton began the testing process to establish the issue, but continued working as she did not feel sick.
On New Year’s Eve in 2017, while she worked at the hospital with the organ transplant team, Mrs Denton collapsed in the toilet and woke to find herself in intensive care and with a new liver.
“I actually work with organ donation as well, so once I woke up and realised I knew exactly what had happened,” she said.
“It’s just seeing the other side. My donor family, I just cannot thank them enough. We have been writing to each other, it’s been lovely.
“We’ve been getting comfort from that.
She added: “I wouldn’t be here today without them and my family and friends just can’t thank them enough as well.
“Make your wishes known. I’m just trying to do everything I can now to let people know.”
It was a tale which touched Bamford.
“She was saying she was back running,” he said. “She said she was a fit woman beforehand and within a few months she’s back running, back to normal, so it just shows sometimes you don’t know what’s going to happen until it comes up.
“It happened very quickly for her and the fact they could react so quickly and get it sorted straight away.
“I mean, it’s not an easy process, to go through a transplant. It’s not just the big operations, it’s the little things too.
“So to be able to get that done quickly and to restore someone to the shape they were in beforehand, it’s brilliant.”
For more information on organ donation, visit: https://www.organdonation.nhs.uk/
