Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale made a generous financial donation to help a former teammate have a career-saving operation.
Connor Dimaio, who played alongside Ramsdale at Sheffield United and Chesterfield, suffered a serious knee injury while playing for non-league side Matlock Town in March. He has ruptured an anterior cruciate ligament and strained medial and lateral ligaments.
Dimaio needs surgery as soon as possible to keep his career alive, but, due to waiting times, has been unable to go under the knife on the NHS As such, the 27-year-old midfielder sought to raise £6,000 to have the surgery done privately instead.
Thanks to a JustGiving page set up by Matlock's James Griffiths, £6,195 has been raised to fund Dimaio's operation. The total reached £5,710 on Sunday after Ramsdale made a generous donation of £1,000 to get his former teammate close to the finishing line.
Ramsdale called Dimaio a "legend" after making his crucial donation. "You deserve this chance!" wrote the England international.
Matlock were overwhelmed by Ramsdale's generosity. They tweeted, "Arsenal's number one coming through with an incredible donation... we cannot thank Aaron enough."
Dimaio, who represented the Republic of Ireland at U21 level, was born in Chesterfield and came through the ranks at Sheff Utd. Ramsdale was born in Stoke-on-Trent and joined the Blades' academy from Bolton in 2013 - shortly before Dimaio's graduation.
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Dimaio joined Chesterfield in February 2016, with Ramsdale moving to Bournemouth 11 months later. The two were reunited when the goalkeeper joined Chesterfield on loan in January 2018 - a season which ended in relegation from League Two for the Spireites.
Ramsdale went on to spend time on loan at Wimbledon before breaking into Bournemouth's starting XI during the 2019/20 campaign. He returned to Bramall Lane in an £18.5million deal in August 2020 following Bournemouth's relegation to the Championship.
Ramsdale suffered a third relegation in four years with the Blades during the 2020/21 campaign before moving to Arsenal and establishing himself as their first-choice goalkeeper. He is now targeting the Premier League title with the Gunners.
Dimaio, meanwhile, has played at non-league level since Chesterfield's relegation nearly five years ago. Ramsdale's former team-mate spent time at Stockport County, Ashton United, Curzon Ashton and Boston United before joining Matlock in February.
Dimaio suffered his serious knee injury during Matlock's 1-1 draw against Ashton on March 4. He needs surgery to reconstruct his damaged anterior cruciate ligament and is expected to be out for between 10 and 12 months after the operation.
Dimaio is already expected to suffer a significant loss of earnings due to the injury. The Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) have will fund some of his operation, but he still needed to raise £6,000. Dimaio and his partner have just welcomed their second child.
"We all want to come together and show our support for Connor and his family after his devastating injury which has hit us all hard," said Matlock boss Martin Carruthers.
"He is a fantastic young man and we all want to ensure he recovers as quickly as possible and he can return to the Gladiators in the new year fitter and stronger than before.
"The PFA will help support his operation but we still need to help support Connor and his family in this difficult financial climate to ensure they can survive with the increasing living costs and also help support them with their newborn child.
"We have to look after our own and ensure he gets the best medical treatment as he will be a valuable asset for us and will be like a new signing the quicker we can get him back and fully rehabilitated."
