THE goodwill has kept on coming for kind-hearted Dudley football fan Sam Astley who selflessly turned down tickets to see England in the Euro 2020 semi-final to instead help save a life by donating stem cells.
After football pundit and former England star Gary Lineker heard about Sam's gesture via Twitter, tech company vivo_Europe stepped in to offer tickets to see England play Italy in what promises to be an historic final on Sunday.
Top London hotel The Dorchester has also reportedly treated Sam, aged 24, from Sedgley, and his girlfriend Beth Hill, who had won the free semi-final tickets in an Instagram competition, to a free stay after hearing about their story.
The initial prize won by Beth, a critical care nurse from Cradley Heath, had also included a night's stay at The Dorchester and £500 spending money.
As well as Sam's scheduled stem cell and bone marrow donation, Beth, aged 25, had been unable to accept the prize, courtesy of fashion brand Pretty Little Thing, as she was self-isolating - so it was gifted to relatives.
The couple, however, have since happily reunited after Sam's successful procedure at a London clinic and Beth, who works in intensive care at Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital, has now completed her period of isolation...and they have been treated to a complimentary stay at The Dorchester ahead of Sunday's all-important match.
Family friend Simon Wilkes, from Brierley Hill, whose charity event led to Sam joining the Anthony Nolan register and being declared a match for someone in need of a transplant, said: "The journey continues for this wonderful couple who are now back together after a whirlwind of a week."
The couple have been inundated with media interest since the Stourbridge News broke the story of Sam's stem cell donation and Simon said: "The experience for them has been incredible. Now it’s time for them to enjoy their weekend of a lifetime."
He said the couple have also been gifted £500 spending money thanks to Pretty Little Thing.
Sam is not the first person locally to have given a lifesaving donation after joining the register at one of Simon's charity events.
Matt Beveridge was called up to donate stem cells in 2018 after being declared a match and his donation reportedly saved the life of a young woman in Spain.
Former football coach Simon has been supporting blood cancer charity Anthony Nolan since being diagnosed with a blood disorder...but he's also had a long history of charity fundraising - something that has only intensified since the sad death of his son Olly, who took his own life in 2017.
The event at which Sam signed the Anthony Nolan register was held in memory of 22-year-old Olly and Simon is hoping to encourage further young people to sign up to help save lives in memory of 'Olly in heaven'.
To find out more about joining the register go to https://www.anthonynolan.org/help.../join-stem-cell-register.
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