Sheffield United captain Billy Sharp has recorded a heartfelt message thanking Nottingham Forest fans for raising over £16,000 for his nominated charity, Martin House Children's Hospice.
Sharp was assaulted by a Forest supporter in the aftermath of their Championship play-off second leg penalty shootout win at the City Ground. That sparked Reds fan Zoe Potts to start crowdfunding for the former Forest player "to show condemnation".
The original target for set at £500 but has since exceeded that by more than 3000% with more than 1,000 individual donations being received. Sharp has now publically thanked Zoe and everyone who has been involved in the fundraising for Martin House as well as sharing how the charity helped his family through the death of their two-day-old son Luey Jacob due to gastroschisis in October 2011.
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The Blades skipper tweeted: "From the bottom of mine & my family’s heart, THANK YOU" and attached a minute-long video message. The transcript in full is as follows:
"Hi Zoe, I hope you’re well," Sharp said. "I just want to thank you and everybody who's donated to Martin House for one mindless idiot causing me a little harm to my face was a very nice gesture to raise some money for a very good cause and a cause that's close to mine and Jade and my family's heart.
"So, again, to Zoe and everybody who's helped set it up and everybody who’s donated, we just want to say thank you. It will go a long way for Martin House, what is an incredible place and helped us through the tragedy of losing our son.
"So, again, from me and Jade, thank you very much. Wish Forest all the best for the new season in the Premier League, and hopefully we can do the business this year, and hopefully join them next year. Thanks again, from everybody in my family."
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