Sport
Garnacho superfan meets his hero and wins bravery award from Man United after beating cancer
The brave little boy was surprised by his hero at Carrington.
Danny Jones -
1st February 2024 
Young Manchester United fan Anderson Pollard was recently given the all-clear following a battle with cancer and as his footballing role model was often on his mind throughout his treatment, the club organised for him to meet his hero: Alejandro Garnacho.
Seven-year-old Anderson from Redditch, Worcestershire was sadly diagnosed with a rare type of non-Hodgkins lymphoma in May last year after initially being diagnosed with nothing more than constipation.
However, after going back to the GP shortly after, he was immediately rushed to the hospital for a CT scan and was found to have multiple tumours in his stomach, meaning he had to go through months of aggressive treatment including chemotherapy, bone marrow aspirations and several surgeries.
Throughout his treatment, doctors used an emergency question to check his cognitive responsiveness and Anderson’s was a tap-in: ‘Who has played with Ronaldo & Messi?’ His answer each time, without fail, was ‘Garnacho‘. When Man United learned of this, they simply had to get the two of them together.
How lovely is this?
His intense treatment is a lot for anyone to go through, let alone a little kid, but Anderson fought hard and was thankfully declared cancer-free on 18 September 2023. The United Foundation does plenty with local hospitals and children’s charities but they couldn’t help but reach out to the Pollard family.
As his dad Sam says throughout the video, there was pretty much only one thing on the little lad’s mind throughout his time in Birmingham Children’s Hospital and that was his idol, so when United got in touch to arrange for a visit to the Carrington Training Complex, he was over the moon.
Little did he know it was more than just a tour around the ground and that he would be surprised by none other than Garnacho himself. Signing his shirt and gifting him a ball, the Argentine winger called Anderson “a warrior” before presenting him win Manchester United’s Bravery Award for 2024.
Read more:
- Manchester United question the ‘integrity of the women’s game’ after Conti Cup controversy
- The best places to watch the 2024 Six Nations in Manchester city centre
- Harry Maguire announced as an official patron for The Children’s Hospital Charity in Sheffield
Nothing but wholesome stuff to see here.
And the heartwarming scenes didn’t stop there either, as even before his surprise visit to Carrington, Anderson and his family were gifted tickets to go and see the Reds in person.
After West Midlands Police heard that he had rang the bell signalling all-clear, they invited him along to their headquarters to surprise him with tickets for the Spurs game, bringing along his mum Debbie, dad Sam, as well as his brother and sister. Wonderful stuff.
It isn’t the first time we’ve seen Garnacho taking time out to meet superfans either, as he also surprised another youngster with a touching gesture after the Everton game last year.
For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.
Featured Images — Manchester United (supplied)
